Unforgiven
by ryuredwingsreturn
Summary: The Ruins of Alph hold many secrets, including the ancient connection between Johto and Sinnoh. While on a seemingly uneventful assignment escorting an archaeologist in the ruins, International Police agents Clara and Peregrine are witness to the violent release of Giratina back into the world after thousands of years of imprisonment.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:** Hi there! Thank you for checking out my fanfiction. It's been a long time since I've written anything, so I hope that you enjoy what I'm creating. This is meant to be an easy way for me to get back into writing for myself, and because of that, please don't judge it too harshly. Feedback is still appreciated though!

The world you are going to read about takes place in a Pokemon world that is almost the same as the one we know and love, but peopled with gijinkas, humanizations of Pokemon. All of the characters you will be reading about are OC's created from Pokemon on various teams I've had or inspired by information given by the games, movies, and anime.  
Happy reading!

 **Chapter One**

 **A** rcheology is dirty work. Everything being worked with is either buried, or caked with two thousand plus years of dust and various levels of grime, all of which depends on if the site is somewhere relatively pleasant. In more rigorous conditions, an archeologist must worry about whether they will be going home with all of their fingers and toes, risking bodily loss from frostbite or jungle rot, or returning with several new diseases under their belt. Along with these dangers there is the potential lack of food, shelter, and friendly neighbors. Despite all this, archeology flourishes in the Johto and Sinnoh regions thanks to the active investigation of the many abandoned temples found all over the countryside in between growing towns. The list of dig sites continues to grow as people push the boundaries of their cities and roads more and more into uncharted forests and deserts.

The Ruins of Alph were most likely one of the most hospitable environments Yukime had ever worked in. While it was certainly dusty, damp, and muddy in some areas, especially in the lower levels, he couldn't really complain about where his research had taken him. He specialized in the ancient connection between all the known regions and the ancient language that was used, researching how the ancient peoples interacted with each other, specifically those in Johto and Sinnoh, and what effect it all had on developing civilizations. He had finally worked his way to getting into the Ruins of Alph, and after years of being in the freezing temperatures of Sinnoh's half-buried temples, he was extremely grateful for Johto's mild climate. Even as a Glaceon, he had had to bundle up in his home region, but the most he had needed in Johto was a thick hoodie on chilly, early mornings.

Violet City was within walking distance, making it easy to get general supplies or good food, and the Unown were friendly enough when they decided to poke their heads out to see what he was doing. It had been unnerving at first to be working with only his lantern there for light while he translated another slab of writing, and then turn around to find himself being watched by a few curious black shapes and big, unblinking eyes. They were relatively harmless though; only seeming fascinated by this strange man and his constant scribbles and sketchbooks. Once in a while he was sure he would see more then the strange symbols floating around, and instead see the flash of a dark, little body or hear the patter of quick feet in the dirt. This was usually when he would get up and get some fresh air. There was only so much mystery he could take in one go, and the ruins had plenty without adding the tricks of Psychic Pokemon to it all.

It would have been a completely different story if he was alone in all this. He would have had a dozen heart attacks from Unown phasing through walls and landing on his head whenever they felt like it, and ran for his life back to Snowpoint on the first day without Clara and Peregrine.

The Ruins of Alph were a protected archeological site, and while most research was conducted in teams, the government of Johto had become increasingly picky with who and what they let onto the culturally revered grounds. While the civilization that had built them no longer existed, and no community could claim special privilege over the strange monuments and halls, the ruins were a source of Johto pride. A majority of the people whom he had spoken with in the nearby city about his work, and why he was there, talked about the ruins with a feeling of protectiveness and the desire to keep the place as close to it's original state as much as possible. They were glad archeologists from all over the world were interested in cracking its mysteries, but if anyone were to overstep their boundaries, it wouldn't take long for them to be ousted from the country. Which was why, even though he was a single archaeologist and linguist conducting research on the ancient link between Sinnoh and Johto, he had been assigned two helpers by the country; combination bodyguards, assistants, and general watchdogs over his work.

At first, he had questioned the sense in assigning International Police agents to watch over him since he highly doubted a couple of cops could help him with his research. He had expected that all they would really do was just hold the lights for him to see, and complain, loudly, about how their time could be better spent chasing down some high profile criminal or another. The local authorities he had dealt with on the few occasions he was required to have legal officers with him had always been gruff and generally disinterested in what he was doing. The only thing they seemed to care about was when they could switch assignments.

Clara and Peregrine entirely surprised him when they arrived to pick him up from the airport. Clara was tall and lean, smokey black hair cut short and bangs swept across her face in an attempt to look professional but keep it low maintenance. The Typhlosion exuded a quiet confidence that promoted approachability, but warned that any kind of law or rule breaking would be dealt with quickly and mercilessly. He had found out very quickly that she liked things to run smoothly, and for people to do exactly what they were supposed to. Peregrine was most likely the friendliest Togekiss he had ever met. He made up for Clara's strict judgement with enthusiasm for anything and everything. Yukime had never been asked so many questions about his research, himself, and where he came from in one hour then by anyone else he had ever met as Pippin, the name Clara called him, craned his head around the passenger seat of the car and chatted at him the entire ride to the hotel. He was thin and wiry, with mismatched red and blue eyes, and a tumbleweed of white blonde hair that sat on his head and looked like it hadn't made contact with a brush in months.

It didn't take him very long to figure out why they had been assigned to him. They knew the area like the back of their hands, and they were incredibly fast in dealing with any kind of trouble. Yukime was on two time limits; the one created by the government and then the one created by Sinnoh's natural climate. There were only about three to four months out of the year where he could safely conduct his research in the frozen temples high up on the sides of Mt. Coronet and in the deep forests of Snowpoint City, and the season was fast approaching. If he was able to time everything perfectly, he could have a huge amount of data available to him by the end of the year and be able to condense it all into what would probably be the most complete history of Johto and Sinnoh's interactions they had to date. Because of his time limits, he couldn't wait the two or three days, or even a week, to get replies from fellows or libraries.

The first time he had ran into a problem, and needed immediate assistance from a colleague in Sinnoh, Clara had questioned him about where his friend was and then made a few phone calls while he frantically emailed and left messages with secretaries. She had come back fifteen minutes later, and handed him her cellphone, the professor babbling away on the other end about how he swore up and down that his samples from Hoenn were ethically procured. The second time, he had needed books that had gotten sent to the wrong library on the other side of the region, and nearly broke down into hysterics. That's when he found out why Peregrine's hair was a constant disaster. Once he understood what had happened, the Togekiss strapped his goggles to his face, and took off without so much as a warning or a goodbye. He was back within an hour, grinning at Yukime as if this was completely normal, and handed him his mis-shipped books.

It was thanks to his unexpected companions that he had been able to move so smoothly from one monument to the next, translating all that he could before going to the next building in the ruins. There were four main structures, and he had begun work on the very last one. It was one of the least investigated, mostly, from what he had been able to figure out, because of how very mixed the language was. It was nothing short of a blast for him.

Yukime intently wrote in one of the many notebooks arranged around him, another filled with symbols and their corresponding translations open next to him, and only moved to either glance up and down the wall he was set up in front of, or stand up and stretch once every ten minutes or so. He was so close to figuring this place out and its connections, he could taste it! Although he was starting to wonder if he could taste much of anything soon; he was on his seventh cup of tea that morning and his tongue could have turned into a brown-stained prune by now. It was an unseasonably cold morning, still chilly enough for a sweater at around eleven in the morning, and even Clara had noted it when they had set out around seven to begin the day's work. He didn't mind, of course, being an Ice type, but the Typhlosion had narrowed her eyes and buried herself closer to the fur that lined the neck of her jacket in annoyance. She had been more then happy to run and grab the trio lunch boxes back in Violet City when he had suggested it.

He stood once again, raising his arms with a grunt and bending from side to side. Perhaps a chair was in order… He thought he could feel the support in his shoes wearing down the longer he insisted on crouching down and resting all his weight on his feet like some sort of determined statue. No wonder the Unown would stop and stare at him sometimes; he probably looked ridiculous to them.

"Heyyyyyy, I've got lunch!"

He paused in his stretch, turning in place until he located the woman. The ruins had the unusual ability to direct sound in a different directions then where it came from. Clara walked over to him, a full looking plastic takeout bag hanging from one hand, and a carry out tray filled with most likely warm lattes in the other. The smell of something marinated in soy sauce and hoisin wafted towards him from the bag, and his mouth immediately flooded.

"That smells amazing!" he said, abandoning his spot and walking to meet her. "What is it? Did you pick up bento boxes from the sushi house…?"

Clara handed him the takeout bag for him to inspect.

"Nope. Spicy marinated beef rice bowls with veggies and a fried egg. It's a regional specialty; I figured I should grab us some before you head on out of here in a few weeks," she explained as he carefully explored the contents, taking out one of the steam filled containers and peeking inside.

She looked around at the buildings as Yukime ooed over the food, taking a sip from her latte. Someone was missing.

"Where's Pippin?" she asked. A frown was starting to itch at her face; she had a good idea as to where he could be. Hopefully she would be wrong.

Yukime looked up from drooling over the rice bowl. "Huh? Oh, uh, I think he went inside the building… He said he wanted to check the lower levels for booby traps, or trick doors," he said, sheepishly straightening his glasses.

"Oh sweet Amaterasu, not again," she groaned. "He needs to be out here doing his job, not playing Helioptile Jones! Ugh…"

Yukime nervously chewed his lip; he knew he should have given Peregrine some inane task to keep him busy. He had a tendency to wander off when left to his own devices. Which, according to Clara, never ended well. Pippin was a magnet for trouble, even if nothing had happened to him in the ruins, but that was mostly due to his partner intervening like she was intending to do now.

Clara ran a hand through her hair, flipping the black bob into a soft tumble. "How long has he been gone?"  
"...Not long. He's been gone maybe fifteen minutes, tops, I think," Yukime said. "I was going to get him if he didn't come back in five minutes. The Unown have been pretty active today."

Clara grumbled wearily, and tugged her jacket tighter around herself as she walked into the ruined building. "I'll be back! You go ahead and meet us at the research lab," she said, waving a hand at the Glaceon. All she would probably have to do was follow the sound of oblivious chatter as Peregrine liked to talk to anything that moved.

A few levels down underneath three stories of dirt, Peregrine cheerfully walked through the chilly halls of the last monument. He had been meaning to explore it a bit before letting the Glaceon into the lower levels. The Ruins of Alph may have looked harmless on the outside but there were a number of dangerous things littered throughout the insides including trap doors, sand pits, and trick rooms that could send you right back to where you started. Flashlight in hand, and a carefully marked up piece of paper in the other, he progressed down the stone hall. So far, he hadn't found much of anything except for a few puzzle rooms that he would leave to the doc to figure out, but the building was definitely deeper than the others. He was so far down that he had started to see his breath when the flashlight caught it.

He paused at an intersection, and quickly stuck the flashlight in his mouth. He took the pen out of the folds of the scarf wrapped around his neck, and scratched another intersection onto his makeshift map. It was coming along quite nicely, if he said so himself.

The sudden sound of crumbling rock and odd chirping after fifteen minutes of uninterrupted silence nearly made him swallow the flashlight.

"PLEH! Agh-! Awghjeez…" Peregrine coughed, dropping it from his mouth. The taste of metal spread down his throat, making him wish he had brought a waterbottle just for this instance, as he quickly bent down for the light.  
He snatched it up, and held it up towards the sound. A few Unown floated innocently down the hall, stopped in place by the sudden brightness, and blinking in confusion and near blindness.

"Oh jeez, sorry fellas!" He quickly pointed the flashlight towards the side so that the light bounced off the wall instead, hopefully making it less harsh.

But then it didn't.

Instead, the light bent around a corner, completely unseen unless you happened to direct a light source towards it. The Unown phased through the wall opposite as Peregrine quickly rushed towards the mysterious wall, the creatures twittering as if nothing had happened. Even as he stood right in front of what he knew was an entrance, a break in the wall, it was invisible. The bricks had been carefully laid and arranged to camouflage a door into another room. The Togekiss carefully ran a hand down the wall beside the supposed entrance to make sure he wasn't somehow walking straight into a brick wall after all, and his hand dropped from the stone into the doorway. He could practically hear Clara, who really was about half his self-restraint in physical form, telling him sternly (in that voice she used on lawbreakers and loud children in restaurants) to go back upstairs and let Yukime look at this strange doorway before even thinking about walking in.

But since Clara wasn't around, and his curiosity was stronger than whatever bits of self-preservation he had left, he eagerly walked into the room, a smile starting on his face. New places, especially secret places, were always interesting. He held the flashlight high above his head, expecting a room full of puzzles and statues, but… There didn't seem to be any of that.

The light revealed a square room, about the size of two small cars put side to side, and a wall straight ahead filled with symbols. There were three podiums, waist high, that looked as if they were meant to hold something. The left and right were empty, but the middle had something sitting on top of it.

Peregrine walked forward, looking up at the wall. Yukime had taught him what some of the symbols meant, and he recognized a few from the quick lessons. He thought he could make out 'time,' 'space,' and something about an egg… There was definitely something else in the carvings though, something that came after time and space that he didn't recognize; even he could tell it was new with his limited knowledge of the language.

He finally looked down at the pedestal in front of him, and saw the strange object sitting on top. It was covered in centuries of dust and bit of rubble, but he could see something very faintly glittering underneath. It almost looked like gold. Peregrine bent down, peering at the shape, which looked like someone had taken a huge chunk of raw gold and twisted it into a misshapen diamond.

He tapped his foot in thought. Should he blow on it to remove some of the dust and see more of what it could be, or should he leave it alone until Yukime could get a better look at it? He didn't want to accidentally destroy a newly discovered relic of the past by doing something stupid. Maybe if he was very gentle…? His main concern was keeping the doctor safe, and he wanted to be sure that whatever this thing was couldn't do anything dangerous. The traps laid out in the ruins had been disguised as a number of things; he wouldn't be surprised if this was one of them.

He took a breath.

"What the hek are you doing?!"

Peregrine squawked, nearly falling into the podium, and blew all the dust off the object in one panicked gust. He didn't even get a glance at it as he whirled around, flashlight pointed towards the door. Clara put her hand up, flinching at the bright light, as she stood in the entrance.

"Oh sweet Amaterasu, it's just you," Peregrine wheezed, leaning against the wall as he felt his knees shaking under him. She was really good at scaring him when she wanted to. He grabbed onto the podium and straightened himself up.

Clara strode towards him. "No, seriously, what are you doing? I told you to stay with Dr. Yukime!"

She shivered, rubbing her arms as she walked in. "Ugh, it's freezing in here! How are you not frozen?"

"I was just-! Um-! Here, look-!" He gestured around himself as she drew nearer, his map flapping around in his hand. The Typhlosion rolled her eyes, and grabbed the arm holding the flashlight, steering him towards the door with a firm grip.

"Come on, I brought lunch. Let's get out of here before you turn blue, or something," she said, guiding him out of the room. Peregrine whined in defeat as she lead him away from the writing on the wall.

"No, but, really! I found something cool! Aw, come on, Clara, it's not that col-! YOW! Don't do that Fire type thing, hey-!" He twisted his arm out of her hot hold, rubbing the spot where she had begun to feel too warm for his own liking. He knew she hated the cold, but that was no excuse to take it out on him to make him move faster.

"I am hungry! I am cold!" Clara said as they walked down the hallway, and up the stairs that would lead them towards the exit. "And I shouldn't have had to come down here to get you! Come on, these are orders, Pippin! You're supposed to stay near the doc; what would you do if Meru or Ra decided to pop by for a surprise check in? You know they love to do that…"

"That might be a little hard considering they're all the way in Kalos."

"Oh please, like that's ever stopped them…."

Clara stopped on the stairs, and looked from side to side. Her mouth was scrunched up like she had smelled something funny in the musty air.

"...Do you hear that?"

Peregrine stopped staring at her in annoyance, and listened. It wasn't obvious unless a person was looking for something, but underneath the calm quiet of the ruins, a whine had begun. It was like air being let out a balloon; sharp and constant with the slow threat of leading to a loud finale. It made Peregrine's stomach drop out from him.

He locked eyes with Clara, and they both leapt into a run.

They thundered up the stairs, Peregrine leaping forward and grabbing his partner's hand to help her move quicker up the flights. She was generally fast, but she let him lead when they had to get out of some place quick. The small whine had only gotten louder, and had been joined by an alarmed chattering, like a flock of sparrows in a tree that had spotted a cat underneath them.

Clara glanced behind them, and saw a huge swarm of Unown coming up the stairs after them.

"Ohlords, Pippin, go faster!"

The Togekiss skidded to a halt for half a second, and was about to scoop her up when the swarm rammed into them. Clara shrieked as they surged forward, grabbing onto Peregrine's scarf as they were caught up in the torrent, and the Unown hurtled them up the stairs in a panicked stream.

They were spat out into the sunlight, the Psychic Pokemon scattering in all directions like bees from a shattered nest, as they dumped the two agents into the sand. Clara pushed herself up as soon as she hit the ground, and grabbed Peregrine, tugging him out of the dust.

"Clara! Peregrine!" Yukime was running towards them, and barely stopped short of another stream of Unown pouring out of a different monument.

Clara waved her arms at him.

"Run! Go back to the research lab!" she shouted over the din, desperate for the archeologist to listen.

Unown were flying everywhere in a frenzy, the sentient characters still coming out of the monuments and threatening to block out the sun. Clara hit the dirt, unable to keep up with the deluge, and peered around her. Why was she so cold, her hands felt like ice. She panted, starting to panic as she realized she could see her breath in the air like down back in the lower level of the monument. It had been chilly today, but was nothing compared to the biting cold that had followed them out. She glanced back at Peregrine, who had had the sense to also take refuge on the ground.

Her immediate reaction was to yell at him about what he had done this time but the deep, twisting feeling of fear in her gut stopped her. They had gotten themselves into and out of catastrophes before, but none of them had made her feel like this. It was as if the earth had been given telepathy and was screaming that something was very wrong. She was terrified.

The Unown whirled faster and faster, whipping the air into a windstorm around them. The whine became louder, turning into a screech like an airplane was taking off right on top of the ruins. The Pokemon suddenly changed direction and rushed towards the same point in front of the last monument. The chatter drowned out the screech, desperate and afraid, as the Unown gathered into a tight ball and seemed insistent at jamming themselves against an unseen hole.

The Unown's chatter and the unearthly screech reached a fever pitch, both sounds vying to be heard over the other. The screech changed key, careening up and then diving down, shaking the earth and throwing off the Unown's drone. It went deeper and deeper, gaining volume the lower it went.

Then it stopped.

Everything went silent and still, the Unown vibrating in place, and Clara realized she couldn't breathe. She couldn't move; the only thing obeying her command was her pounding heart. The air was gone though; sucked into a black hole the Unown struggled to keep shut, and out of the world.

An ear-splitting shriek broke the silence like a banshee screaming at the top of her lungs. She clapped her hands over her ears, the sound digging into her head and filling it with a blind rage. It wasn't hers though, it didn't belong to her at all; it was a boundless fury that was reaching out and looking for a handle to latch onto and drag itself out with. The earth cracked underneath the black ball that had formed, buckling under the pressure the incoming presence created.

The Unown went flying, thrown everywhere as the black void burst open in a strange flash, and then disappeared just as quickly. The scream was gone, the air had returned, and the remaining Unown had been scattered across the ground like alphabet blocks. Clara cracked her eyes open, and slowly removing her hands from her ears.

A woman was standing where the ball had been.

It was hard to see her, either from the dust in the air or the way her form seemed distorted for the first few seconds she realized she was there, but from where she lay, she could see her clothes were in pieces. Her hair streamed from her head in a golden wave, weightless as it floated in the air around her. Something gold glittered just above her head. Before she could get a better look, and figure out if the newly appeared Pokemon was hostile, the Unown descended on the newcomer in a giant swarm. Clara jumped back onto her feet, only to be nearly knocked off of them again by Yukime grabbing her by arm, and dragging her behind the closest solid object. He was dragging Peregrine by his scarf, the Togekiss too shocked by everything to even protest or get himself up off the ground.

"We need to get out of here! Now!" the Glaceon whispered, terrified. Clara finally found her voice again.

"Why? Do you know who that is?" she asked sharply. In the face of the unknown, she defaulted to turning everything into an investigation; time to gather information and then move towards a solution.

There was a screech like the furious scream from before, though not as oppressive, but definitely as violent. Clara peeked around the wall to see the woman lashing out at the Unown, bursts of dark shadows whirling around her, and swiping black claws at any that came near her. The Psychic Pokemon still seemed determined to push her back to where she had come from, but were failing. Little bodies were being littered everywhere, the darkness coming in larger, and larger waves around the woman.

"That's Giratina!"

Clara looked back to see Yukime with his eyes squeezed tight and doing his best attempt to melt into the wall they were hiding behind. "She was sealed away in an alternate universe thousands of years ago by Amaterasu for causing untold destruction and violence! It's a Sinnoh legend, but I never imagined it was true! It's supposed to just be a folktale!"

She could feel a pit open up inside her as Yukime explained who had suddenly appeared in front of them. A Legendary, and a destructive one at that. They weren't equipped to handle this in the least; they may be International Police but Legendaries required special care and negotiation. They were ancient beings with amazing powers, basically gods in their own right. One wrong word and the whole earth could be knocked out of balance. She remembered the stories of what had happened in Hoenn; Johto did not need a natural disaster that nearly destroyed a city or two.

"How bad is she?" Peregrine had finally pulled himself back together, asking questions. "Can we talk to her? Maybe calm her down?"

Clara leaned back out to watch Giratina in action. The Unown had continued to throw themselves at her despite how every single one that came near, or managed to make some kind of hit, was smacked into the dust by the strips of darkness that came from the Legendary's hands. A wave of her arm, and a barrage of shadow balls were sent out with a snarl. She could see the Giratina's red eyes gleaming with rage; she somehow doubted that she would be interested in talking. They had to figure out a safe way to get out of the Ruins and call for backup.

"Talking?!" Yukime balked. "Are you kidding?! She'll kill us! We need to get out of here! We need to-! Oh my Arceus."

The Glaceon seemed to freeze in place, his eyes going wider than they already were, and he grabbed a hold of Clara's shoulder with a shaking hand. She jerked back to look at him. All the color had drained out of his face as he looked from her to Peregrine.

"Sinnoh. She'll head straight to Spear Pillar when she's done here!" he said, the panic replaced by horror. His hands opened and closed as if he was imagining grabbing someone. "We have to warn them! She will kill _everything_ on that mountain!"

Clara stared at him for a moment, the size of the potential disaster sinking in, and then turned to Peregrine. The same silent conversation that had happened on the stairs passed between them, only this time Peregrine had started shaking his head as her amber eyes bored into him.

"Nu-uh! No! I'm not leaving you here-!"

"You have to." Clara said with finality. "You have to fly as fast as you can, and I'll only weigh you down if you drop me off in Violet City. Nefertiti and Loki are stationed at Snowpoint; tell them to get everyone they can to Spear Pillar. I'll buy you some time."

He still didn't move, biting his lip and his eyes wavering from Clara to the half-hidden battle raging behind their hiding spot. Unown were hitting the ground with heavy thunks. He wanted to pick Clara up and get them both as far away from the ruins as possible. She had continued to stare at him, her face still and determined, and his stomach was doing somersaults in confliction.

Finally, he stood up, his mouth pressed into a hard line of frustration, and snapped his goggles onto his face.

"You better be in one piece the next time I see you!" he said, pointing a finger at her. He sprinted away and took off, the air cracking from the force of it barely heard over the din of Giratina.

Clara turned her burning eyes away from the now empty spot to Yukime, who was still shaking beside her.

"I need you to tell me everything you know about Giratina," she said. She then pointed past him, towards the unseen research lab set up at the beginning of the ruins. "And then I want you to run to the research lab, and lock yourself in."  
Yukime seemed to shake himself out of his terrified stupor, her commands reaching in and calming him. He wanted to object to leaving her alone to face Giratina, but knew it was useless. He was no fighter, at least not outside of a gym, but letting her do this by herself seemed more risky than it was worth.  
"Yukime!" Clara put her hands on his shoulders, forcing him to look at her. "Tell me everything you know, now! Those Unown won't distract her forever!"

Yukime hesitated once, and then everything he knew started spilling out of him.  
"Giratina is a dragon type like Ite and Nara of Spear Pillar Temple, but we don't know about the secondary typing like we do for them. All evidence has either been destroyed or is barely legible thanks to environmental damage to ancient temples in Sinnoh but what has been found leads us to believe she may be dark, ghost, or poison. She was sealed away in another dimension, a kind of reverse world filled with darkness, by Amaterasu for the destruction of the Shaymin race thousands of years ago. According to legend, once freed from her hellish prison, she will seek revenge on Palkia and Dialga for betraying her while destroying everything in her path."

The Glaceon gasped for air near the end of it, rattling off everything like she had asked as if reading nonstop from a textbook. Clara thought, replaying everything he had said in her head to be sure she had been able to keep up with it. She was beginning to regret sending Peregrine away now; she was only a fire type. What could she possibly do to try and stall such a monster? She took a shaky, deep breath, and patted Yukime on the shoulder.

"Alright. Okay…" she glanced down, trying to think of a strategy. She looked up, realizing that Yukime was still standing there with her.

"What did I say?" she said sharply, making him jump. "Go! Run! Go, now! Before she notices you!"

The Glaceon hesitated again, opening his mouth to protest, but then Clara grabbed him by the shoulders again, spun him around and shoved him in the direction he needed to go. He stumbled forward and then started running, glancing back at her only once.

Clara swallowed hard as she watched him go, and then peeked around the wall to see what Giratina was up to now. She was running out of Unown to bring down, the huge swarm that had been there before now reduced to a few stubborn Pokemon that dived at her like insistent hornets. Clara took another deep breath, squeezing her eyes shut as she tried to brace herself for what she was about to do.

She jumped out from behind the wall.

She could see Giratina more clearly now. Her form had been hazy before, as if the world was resisting her coming back into it, and the swarm of Unown had made it hard to see what she really looked like. Her clothes were definitely rags, what looked like the remains of a kimono barely there and faded to a dirty grey, and she was barefoot. Her yellow hair, that floated around her like a liquid gold cloud, seemed frayed and dirty in patches around the ends. Now that she was closer, there was unmistakable layer of grime on her as well.

Clara could feel her heart threatening to beat out of her chest, but underneath the fear of being destroyed where she stood there was a small amount of pity for her. She had seen legendaries before, Ho-Oh to be specific, during the annual fall festival in Ecruteak. They were dazzling beings meant to be colorful and full of light. Wherever Giratina had been sent to had drained whatever wonder that must have been part of her at some point and replaced it with desperation. Instead all her presence did was instill a deep rooted feeling of fear that the Typhlosion was fighting just to be able stand where she was.

She was running out of Unown to swat down though, and when she was finished with them, the legendary would take off for Spear Pillar Temple. Peregrine couldn't possibly be anywhere near Snowpoint yet.

"HEY!"

Clara's voice rang out like a shot across the ruins. Giratina stopped what she was doing, and turned towards her. Her red eyes burned in her face like coals, and Clara felt her chest involuntarily constrict as she was caught in the stare. She couldn't move again, just like when the legendary had first appeared, and a ringing started in her ears. It was like her gaze alone were powerful enough to destroy someone from the inside out.

An Unown suddenly crashed into Giratina's head, knocking her gaze away, and Clara shook her head, regaining the feeling back in her body. Without wasting a second, she spread her feet, filled her lungs full to bursting with air, and then breathed out a torrent of fire at her. The blaze roared across the space between them, and she heard the faint screech of anger as Giratina was caught in the blast.  
The fireblast was blown away, Giratina ripping the blast away from her with a snarl and a wave of her hand, a black hole swallowing the flames. Clara ducked and rolled as a barrage of shadow balls were sent at her, and threw herself behind a wall. She covered her head as the balls followed her and slammed into the crumbling wall, shaking her temporary cover. Breathing hard, she checked her watch; Peregrine needed more time than that. That had barely been five minutes. Clara rolled up her sleeves, thinking of what else could work to distract her but keep the legendary at a distance. Her fire breath would only work if she was preoccupied and couldn't get rid of it.

Clara snapped her fingers, her hands bursting into flames, and darted out from behind the wall. She threw balls of fire in the legendary's general direction, flinging dozens onto the ground around her, behind her, and at her. The balls burst upon contact, scattering embers and smoke into the air. She heard a shriek as a few sparks hit her, and could see through the smoke Giratina trying to put out some flames on the end of her ripped kimono.

Clara filled her lungs again, the air heating up as she concentrated on the feeling of fire deep within her chest, and breathed another torrent. This time she heard a scream, the sound of pain sending a shiver through even though she was beginning to sweat from how hot her own attacks were making her. She finally ran out of fuel, and paused in her immediate plan to jump for cover as soon as the attack was done to see the damage. She didn't want to kill Giratina, or seriously injure her, just stall for time. The legendary was crouched on the ground, panting as smoke rolled off of her. What had once been grey had been turned black, and scorch marks covered her arms. Her floating hair threatened to start burning at one end like the beginning of a match. She felt a fleeting spark of triumph; if she could keep it up, Peregrine would have plenty of time.

Giratina's head snapped up, and Clara threw herself behind another ruined wall, squeezing her eyes shut to avoid the paralyzing stare. She quickly discarded her jacket, and looked at her watch again. Five more minutes and then she could run. She would have preferred ten, but knew that was pushing her luck. Giratina would only be pushed around for so long.

The ground suddenly shook as wave after wave of pulsing darkness hit her current protection, the blasts of pitch black making the wall crumble behind her. She jumped and rolled to get behind another wall, and saw the waves follow her and then stop short of the rock. Thinking quickly, she lit her arms up, fire blazing from the elbow down, and jumped out to send a wave of heat towards the legendary.

Giratina flickered as if she were a projection instead of a person, and the wave of fire missed her entirely as she reappeared a foot away from where she had once been. Clara paused for a second in fleeing for another patch of cover.

"The hell-?"

She blinked and the legendary had disappeared once again, leaving only a whirl of dust where she had been standing. Panic gripped her, the Typhlosion looking all around for where her opponent had gone, and then, at the last minute, dashed for cover. She couldn't stand around for that long, what was she thinking?!

Giratina burst into being right in front of her, rushing at her from the shadows. They collided, the legendary driving her fist into her stomach and up into her rib cage, and used the force to pick her up. She flung her down into the dirt, flat on her back, to be sure to completely knock the breath out of her, rendering her fire breath useless. Clara gasped for air, trying to force herself to ignore the pain blooming in her stomach and get up. They only had minutes left.

Hands were suddenly around her neck, squeezing, as Giratina grabbed her out of the hole she had made when she had thrown her down. Clara choked, the fire cloaking her arms extinguished completely, her feet kicking in the air. She clawed at the hands that were tight, too tight, as the red eyes blazed in her face.

"Who-!" Giratina growled, the sound of her voice banging around in her head while she struggled to breathe. "Are you-?!"

"Giratina! Stop!"

Clara peered where the faint voice had come from and saw the blurry image of Yukime standing away from them. The red eyes that were taking up her whole mind turned away. The world was beginning to go dark, her heart desperately banging against her ribs and her body feeling terrifyingly cold. She had told him to run, why hadn't he run?!

Giratina dropped her, the Typhlosion crumpling to the ground and coughing as she tried to breathe freely again. She was in front of Yukime without moving, red eyes locked onto his face, and before he could try to get away, she grabbed him by the front of his shirt. He yelped as he was quickly lifted off the ground and brought up to eye-level with her, shaking and breathing in panicked bursts. Her mouth twisted in barely held back rage that suddenly came out all at once as she roared at him.

"WHERE AM I?!" she demanded. Yukime fought to keep himself from fainting, his vision swimming.

"J-J-Johto! You're in Johto!" he squeaked.

Confusion flickered across her face, and she relaxed her hold for a moment, dropping him about an inch away from her.  
"Johto…?" she repeated. She looked up at the clear, blue sky as if seeing it for the first time since she had arrived and then at the ruins around her. She let go of Yukime without any warning, dumping him on the ground as she turned around to see everything surrounding her. She closed her eyes, and took a deep breath, going still for a moment. The ruins seemed alien now without the constant noise of battle, and Yukime was afraid to breathe too loudly and break the spell of peace that had come over the place again. The raging legendary he was terrified of had disappeared and had been replaced by a woman savoring her surroundings. Her face had become serene, no longer warped with fury and spite, as she breathed the clean air.

Shadows suddenly erupted underneath her, and she was gone in an instant, the darkness swallowing her up and then vanishing. Yukime watched it all with an open mouth, his chest heaving as he tried to stop his heart from jumping out of his body. The moment had disappeared.

He shook his head, and shakily got to his feet, stumbling over to Clara who had finally been able roll herself onto her back. Panting, she struggled to sit up straight, but couldn't for the pain that stabbed her middle every time she breathed too deeply. She hoped that nothing was broken, but knew she would be very lucky if it there wasn't.

She squinted at Yukime as he knelt next to her, offering a hand to help her up.  
"I thought… I told you to run," she said between gritted teeth. He looked down, guilty, and wiped at the sweat that was still running down his face.

"I couldn't just leave you to face her alone…" he said quietly. He didn't want to look up to see the disappointment and frustration on her face.

Clara sighed, and grabbed a hold of his hand. He very carefully pulled her up, trying to offset the strange balance she had to manage in order not to further injure herself, and saw that she didn't exactly seem disappointed but didn't look happy with him either. She was definitely in pain, which seemed more important.

"I was just stalling for time; I wasn't going to stick around longer then I needed to…" she grumbled, checking her watch again. They had barely scraped by how much time Peregrine could have needed. "Our mission was to keep you safe while working in the ruins. When I tell you to run, you run."  
He looked up at her, feeling that he had no choice as she sternly spoke to him, and had to stop himself from ducking his head down as he saw the quiet fury in her amber eyes. She continued to stare him down as he meekly looked up, feeling the guilt well in his chest, and he shuffled his feet uncomfortably. This felt almost as bad as being scolded by his grandmother for trying to take cookies before dinner.

"Understand?" she asked him. Yukime looked down again, and nodded his head.

Clara softened her expression, knowing that the archeologist had most likely only been worried about her being on her own, and gently hit his arm. He jumped the slightest, startled by the friendly tap, and saw her nod her head behind him.

"Now, go get my jacket for me. I need my phone and I think if I bend down to get it, I won't get back up again," she said, giving him a weak smile. "I need to call Snowpoint and make sure Peregrine made it there alright."

Yukime only stared at her for a moment, not sure what to do in the face of her sudden forgiveness for not listening to her, and then quickly went over to the wrecked wall that he had seen her roll behind during the fight.

Clara looked down at her watch again, biting her lip as she tried to focus her attention on making sure she had read everything right. Her partner should have made it to the station in Snowpoint by now, but if Giratina's ability to appear instantaneously in different places was any sign for how fast she could travel, it might not have made a difference. For all the knew, Giratina had already gotten to Spear Pillar Temple, and was destroying it completely while they stood thousands of miles away in Johto.

Yukime jogged over with her jacket in one hand, and her cellphone in the other, and she snatched it from him. She punched in the number for the direct line to the station, and motioned for the Glaceon to help her start walking out of the ruins. She was able to stand on her own just fine, but was afraid that walking might prove to be too much. If she was lucky, the local police station would be able to help them both get on their way to Sinnoh, or would at least let them rest while she waited for international back up to come pick her up. She was more concerned with sending the rest of her luck towards Spear Pillar though, trying to will the situation to freeze in time long enough for Peregrine to get a team up there and stop whatever disaster that Giratina wanted to cause.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: ** Well, this chapter certainly took a long time to write. I'm going to admit straight off the bat that this really was a struggle to write with a lot of revisions, and even now as I'm publishing, it still has a lot of clunkiness that I'm not sure how to solve yet. Maybe I'll be able to later! Right now, I'm more concerned about making sure it's done for the time being and just out there. Thank you for the reviews, especially the suggestions and concerns that were brought up. I read them all, and tries to incorporate what I thought would help the most while still trying to stick to my original vision.  
Anyway, enjoy the update! Happy reading!  
 **EDIT:** Holy canolies, I am SO sorry for the horrible formatting. Hopefully it's not too hard to read! Apologies again!

 **Chapter Two**

 **S** nowpoint received, on average, about 49.5 feet of snow every year, and it wasn't uncommon to have at least one to two feet of snow on the ground on any given day. Depending on the weather, the snow could either be a rock solid sheet of ice, making the small town look like a frozen wasteland, or be as fluffy and soft as a pile of new pillows. Thankfully when Peregrine landed in front of the International Police station, the clouds had just dumped about two feet of fresh powder onto the ground that morning and had yet to make up its mind what it really wanted to do besides be snow.

He blasted it all away in his hard landing, snow flying up in a great cloud around him as he skidded to a halt, and nearly buried himself up to his hips in the icy ground. Not wasting a moment to recover, he stumbled up to the station's front door, and hammered on it with his fist until he heard someone shouting within.

"Keep your parka on, I'm comin'! Jeez-!"

He continued to knock until the door was ripped open, Nefertiti standing in the doorway and looking like she was ready to shake whoever was trying to break the door down. Her giant mane of navy blue hair with a single zig-zag streak of yellow blew in the wind that rushed into the station. Her expression switched to shock as she saw him standing in the cold.

"Peregrine?! I thought you were stationed in Johto!" she said, too dumbfounded by his sudden appearance to let him in.

The Togekiss shivering where he stood despite the heavy clothes he was wearing, icicles hanging from the side of his face and the corners of his mouth.

"I-I-I was!" he gasped. "B-b-big problem-! Sp-Spear Pillar-! Gotta g-get-!"

He suddenly sneezed, interrupting himself. The luxray grabbed him and pulled him inside, not giving him a chance to protests.  
"Good grief, get inside! You're going to freeze to death!"

She slammed the door shut, and then ushered Peregrine into the small kitchen off the entry way. She gestured for him to sit down, but he refused to sit in the offered seat, instead making a beeline for the electric kettle that was steaming on the counter. He started to try to make himself a cup of tea, but his hands were shaking so badly, the mug he grabbed vibrated out of his grasp. Nerfertiti quickly pushed him out of the way, and started making him a cup of hot cocoa, picking up one of the many single serve packets out of the bowl next to the kettle.

"Alright, what's all this about a big problem and Spear Pillar?" she asked as she dumped the packet into the mug. She glanced back to see him intently trying to warm his hands while bouncing in place. "I thought you were doing an escort thing at the Ruins of Alph."

"I-I was-! Am!" he said, shaking the ice out of his hair. He stopped his frantic efforts to warm up to take the cup of cocoa Nefertiti was shoving at him. "But then Giratina showed up! We have to get to Spear Pillar temple now and warn them!"

He paused in his moving to wrap both hands around the hot mug, and blew on the fresh cocoa. Nefertiti had frozen where she was at the mention of Giratina, going still when he took the mug from her. She was a native of northern Sinnoh, and knew the legends of the region by heart. Of all the myths, the dark story of Giratina was one she had had hoped would never come true. She turned around to brace herself on the counter, looking down and trying to process what they were going to have to do.

"Where's Loki?" Peregrine said, oblivious to her reaction. He was more concerned with doing everything Clara had told him to do, and then finding out where she was and if she was okay.  
"We need to start calling everyone in the nearest stations, but we also need people at Spear Pillar now. Can you or him come with me up to the temple?"  
Without thinking, he started to chug the steaming cocoa as if was just a cup of water, his mind otherwise occupied. He nearly choked, the cocoa scalding his throat, but compared to how cold the rest of him felt, it was almost a welcome feeling. He glanced up from looking into the bottom of the mug when Nefertiti didn't answer him right away. Her face was paralyzed by a mixture of shock and terror at his questions instead of the blank look of shock.  
"Loki's not here," she said weakly. "He's in Solace Town! It's just me out here today!"  
This time Peregrine did choke, cocoa spraying up around his face as he coughed.  
"That backwater farmstand?!" he wheezed. "What's he doing there?! All stations need at least two people in them, you know that!"  
"It was an emergency!" she said, throwing up her hands and starting to pace. She ran her hands through her hair, the action fluffing up the cloud more than it already was.  
"You remember all those bodies they found at the Lost Tower? The undocumented mass grave?"  
Peregrine nodded, recalling the report that had been passed through the ranks a few months ago. The graveyard tower just before Solace Town had created quite the fuss when a walled up room had been discovered by accident during refurbishing, and dozens of remains had been found in unmarked coffins. Forensics had been able to determine that the people who had been buried had most likely been horribly tortured and then buried alive at least 100 years ago. Though from the grainy pictures of the coffins, it most likely wasn't easy to guess about the buried alive part. He hadn't been comfortable in enclosed spaces for weeks after reading the report.

"They found more," Nefertiti continued, leaning back against the counter and gripping the edge. "And they're newer, probably not even twenty or thirty years old. The worst thing is that it looks like there's a trail that goes all the way to Kalos."

Peregrine stared at her in stunned silence, going still for the first time since he had arrived. Considering he had seen a legendary being burst back into existence, he would have been hard pressed to say that the discovery of what was most likely a serial killer, one that was probably still active and loose, was the worst news he had gotten all day. The amount of death that could happen in one day was starting to overwhelm him. He dropped the mug on the kitchen island, and ran his hands over his face, groaning.

"Ohhh, back-flippin' Lugia…" he murmured, trying to think of what to do. He looked at her, his hands open for suggestions in front of him.  
"So… What do we do? You can't just abandon your post here, but there's no way I can stall Giratina on my own at Spear Pillar while people evacuate. I'll get flattened faster then you can say Olivine City Cafe pancakes."

Nefertiti opened her mouth, ready to protest that he would just have to go and do it himself, they were racing against a legendary killer that could travel through shadows and they had already wasted enough time, when her red and yellow eyes lit up.

"What day is it?!" she said suddenly, looking around at the walls for the calendar. "Saturday? It's Saturday, right?!"  
It took Peregrine a second to answer, thrown off by the drastic change in topic.  
"I, uh. Yeah, it's Saturday…?"  
Nefertiti grabbed him again, snagging his scarf and pulling, and dragged him back into the entry hall. He was beginning to wonder why he wore his scarf in the first place; it certainly wasn't for protection from the elements since all it seemed to do was give people a way to drag him around. She let him go right before the door and grabbed her coat from the coat rack.

"Ite comes down to the town every Saturday for groceries! If we hurry, we can catch him before he leaves!" she said, pulling it on. She threw a pair of gloves and a hat to Peregrine, and then started to zip herself up.

He quickly stuffed the hat on his head and followed her as she bounded out the door.

"W-wait a second!" he said as he jogged to keep up with her. He had forgotten how fast she moved. It had been at least a year since he had spent any length of time with the luxray that wasn't a quarterly meeting, and there wasn't much to do besides sit and listen to Ra lecture at all of them about cases and policy changes.

"You're telling me that Palkia comes down here every week to get food? Don't they have, like, attendants or helpers or people who work for them to do that?"

Somehow the idea of a legendary dropping down from their sacred mountain just to pick up milk and eggs struck him as extremely strange. You could see Ho-Oh's attendants, brightly colored Kimono Girls, wandering Ecruteak whenever their mistress needed something as mundane as a new hairbrush on any day of the week. But Ite the Palkia, lord of space and creator of constellations, walking around a grocery store and testing the produce for freshness? That was just too weird.

Nefertiti laughed at him, leading the way down the salted sidewalks.

"Attendants? Are you kidding me?" She gestured up towards the mountain that loomed over the town. "They live up in the middle of nowhere! The Mt. Coronet mountain range gets freakin' three to four feet of new snow every day, sometimes five, on each different peak! You think they're really gonna make some poor normal folk live up there just so they have somebody else to make their bed and get their groceries?"

She shook her head, and urged for the togekiss to walk faster despite his inexperience with the icy walkways. He was already falling behind by a foot, and they didn't have time to pick their way over every frozen puddle.

"Ite and Nara don't make anyone live up there who doesn't have to. They have two mamoswine guys who guard the temple, and Hana, that's it. They don't even live in the temple anymore, they have a house half way up the mountain over here." she explained. The grocery store was only another block away, she could see the glowing neon sign above a few snow covered houses.

Peregrine perked up at a name he didn't recognize. "Hana? Who's Hana?"

They walked up to the doors, and Nefertiti swung the entrance open, holding it out for him to follow her inside.  
"The last Shaymin alive." she said, and Peregrine's dropped jaw nearly got caught in the closing door. "Now, come on, he's probably in check out right now! Hurry!"

It was dark. But not the cold, deep darkness like when clouds cover the moon, and you're in the middle of a great forest, far away from any kind of light that you don't know if you're standing anymore or floating out in a black sea instead. It was a comforting darkness, the kind right before the sun bursts over the horizon and brings a new day with it. There was a promise of light. It was warm too, like sitting in a favorite chair with a soft blanket and the temperature is just right enough to tempt you into taking a beautiful nap and wake up feeling refreshed and new.

"Thank you, Amaterasu, Mother to Us All, for the beauty of this planet. Thank you for flowers…"

That gratitude, the sincerity of it, was what had called her forth into being. She wasn't sure if she had always been there, waiting in a strange limbo in the then barren land of Floraroma Valley, or whether the gratitude for nature had somehow been strong enough to create the spark needed to make her.

That was what she liked to meditate on when Ite or Nara had her sit with them at the temple for meditation, focusing on the memory of that warm darkness and trying to search for what could have been there before it. So far she hadn't been able to find an answer, but returning to that comfortable state of existence was nice while she thought over other things.

Hana was crouched in the snow, her mind wandering everywhere while her hands were busy packing snow into snowballs. The town twinkled like a tangle of fairy lights down in the valley below. She had been waiting for Ite to come back from grocery shopping, but he was taking a little bit longer than usual, and sitting around inside had started to get boring.

She remembered when she had been younger, when they had moved from the temple entirely, and asking why they had come so close to the snowy town and hadn't just moved south to be near Hearthome or Eterna City. Her guardians had told her there were too many people in the large cities. Snowpoint's tiny population was less overwhelming.  
Living farther north gave them the opportunity to pick and choose when they wanted to be around normal folks, but she often suspected it was to keep her away from others more than anything. She had always noticed how nervous Nara would get when she accompanied her on shopping trips or how the Dialga started to pace when Ite would send her out on errands by herself. It was like they were afraid she would fall into some imaginary blackhole and never come back.

It used to make her angry, but around the time she turned 19, she started to appreciate her secluded home. She could pretty much do anything she want without drawing attention to herself (she had figured out by the time she was 10 that people had a tendency to stare at her), and she knew everyone in Snowpoint. Everyone in the tiny town treated her just as normally as the next person.

She could zip down to the bookstore, say hi to Loki and Nefertiti at the International Police station, grab some icecream and be back by nightfall without anyone exclaiming over her appearance or asking for a photograph. She was glad she was old enough to know now that Ite and Nara had moved somewhere so tiny and remote to make sure she could have a normal life like any other child growing up in Sinnoh.

At the moment, it was just her on the side of the mountain. Ite was taking his sweet time at the grocery store while Nara was off at the temple to do some routine cleaning and meditating. Or whatever it was that she and her brother did in the sacred rooms of the temple, she wasn't entirely sure. She was just glad for the small instance of peace and quiet before they were both back under the same roof and chaos would eventually erupt.

Ite the Palkia, lord of space and elder brother, and Nara the Dialga, lady of time and younger sister, could squabble better than a pack of geese chasing after the last breadcrumb. She was amazed she had grown up as normally as she had considering they found a way to fight about nearly everything under the sun when either of them got into a mood. They had once argued about the correct way to pronounce caramel for a week.

It wasn't always a disaster though, which she was grateful for, and loved it when they worked together to teach her something new or create a new meal for all of them to enjoy. The fights came and went in waves, and had rarely been over anything very serious. She had the suspicion that for anything concerning her or any other important issues, they kept the arguments away from her for her own peace of mind.

She stood up and stretched; she was starting to feel restless again. Maybe she could beat Ite up the mountain and meet him in Snowpoint. Or maybe she could go and see what Loki and Nefertiti were up to; the luxray was always fun to talk with. She usually had a story and an ample amount of hot chocolate with marshmallows at her disposal to keep her happy with.

It was one of those days where she was looking for an excuse to get out and about.

She perked up as she heard the familiar sound of Ite arriving back on the mountain, his strange portals opening and closing sounded like water going down a drain and being ran through a static filter. She quickly jumped up, grabbing her new pile of snowballs, and dove behind the nearest snowbank with a view of the front door. She waited until the Palkia appeared right in front of it, his arms full of groceries, and the whirl of pink and black from the portal disappeared into the snow beneath him. She started throwing the snowballs as fast as she could, flinging them in twos and threes. They flew towards Ite's back, about a second from hitting their mark, when another black hole appeared and swallowed them up.

Hana jumped up from her hiding spot. "Hey, no fair! That's chea- AUGH-!"  
The snowballs were suddenly dumped on her, the black hole appearing right above her head, and covering her in snow. She shook herself, trying to get all the ice and snow out from the neck of her coat, and then looked up as Ite stood over her.

"It's not cheating if the other person should know better," he rumbled, smiling at her massive pout. He ruffled her green hair with a giant hand, getting some of the latent ice out and then held a grocery bag to her.  
"C'mon, help me get these inside and put away."  
Hana sighed, and begrudgingly took two of the bags from him. "One of these days, I am totally gonna get you," she said, scrunching her nose up at him. He flipped her hair over her head with a chuckle.

"Whatever you say, kiddo,"  
"Ugh!"

She followed him into the house, half-heartedly grumbling about her backfired prank, and set the bags down on top of the kitchen table. Ite easily set the rest of the bags he had onto the kitchen floor behind her. She swore that he liked to show off how much he could carry, taking off with as much as he could from the store like he always did. It wasn't like he was going to hurt himself, at least, Ite was huge compared to most people. Tall, broad-shouldered and frighteningly intimidating, he had terrified her when she had first met him.  
She had refused to leave the International Police officer's side, peeking out from behind her legs when she had brought her to them, until Ite's stone-like face cracked into a smile and his red eyes lit up with kindness. She couldn't really remember what her impression of Nara had been except for the swish of her robes and some faint sniffling; Ite would explain later that they had been happy tears, not sad or scary ones.

Hana started taking things out of the bags and setting them on the table, sorting perishables and non-perishables into piles so they would be easy to hand to Ite, who always organized the refrigerator when he brought home groceries. He poked his head down the hall that lead to the living room, and then went to the refrigerator to start his routine.

"Nara isn't back yet?" he asked, glancing back at her with a small hint of confusion as he knelt down in front of the fridge.

Hana shook her head, handing him a bag of juicing oranges.  
"No… She said she wanted to deep clean the main prayer room, or something. I don't really remember, but she was going on about really cleaning something," she said. She stole a few grapes from the bag before handing it over to him.

"What? I told her- hey, wash those before you eat them. - I told her I'd take care of that, she's gonna kill herself trying to move all those statues around," Ite's voice echoed slightly as he bent half into the appliance. He held a hand out, waiting for her to hand him something else.

Hana shrugged as she tossed the unwashed grapes in her mouth, and then started rummaging through the sack of apples the Palkia had bought, trying to find a particularly tasty looking one for herself. She gave a hum of approval as she found one, and quickly took a bite before handing the rest to him.

"I dunno, if she does, she can just backtrack before she hurt herself," she said with a mouth full of apple, careful not to spray bits everywhere. "Ooh, strawberries! These are just for me, right?"

Ite finally got out of the refrigerator, and swept the two bags of groceries out of her reach.  
"Alright, you little monster, how about you run and grab Nara? Before you eat everything I just bought!" he said. He looked from her to the box of strawberries in her hands, and quickly grabbed it before she could break into it.

Hana laughed, trying not to look too happy for being able to successfully pester her way out of a chore. If it had been Nara, she wouldn't have cared at all that she kept stealing small snacks, but she knew it drove Ite up the wall. She wasn't even allowed in the kitchen anymore when he was on a canning rampage; the last time he had made salsa, she must have stolen two jars worth of peppers.

"Yeah, I can do that," she said, working on trying to finish her apple as quickly as she could. Her pink eyes sparkled as she realized what she could do if he was sending her to grab Nara.

"Oh, wait! Does that mean I get to use one of the Gracidea flowers?!"

She bounced on her toes, hopefully clasping her hands together and already thinking of ways to twist his arm. Ite paused in putting things away, glancing at her with a worried look. He eyed the clouds out the window, and then looked to her, as if trying to weigh the future weather and the Shaymin's tiny body against each other. The snow had cleared for the rest of the day as far as he knew; it was clear skies from Snowpoint all the way to Eterna City. Hana was still bouncing.

"...I suppose you do need the practice," he admitted, and she gasped as if he had told her she had won the lottery instead. He spoke quickly as she ran off to her room to get her flying gear. "But have Nara teleport you back home! Or at least have her fly with you back, I don't want you flying by yourself in case the weather turns nasty!" He called after her, following her to the bottom of the stairs that lead up to the bedrooms.

Hana came back in record time, hopping on one foot as she shoved her boots back on. Her usual dress had been quickly discarded for shirt, pants, and a thick coat along with a red scarf tied at her neck and the sash that was used to keep the Gracidea flower in place.

"Did you hear me about the teleporting?" Ite fretted, following her into the living room where they grew the Gracidea bush near the window. Nara kept the small bush immaculate, watering and trimming it dutifully for when they needed them to have a flying lesson with their rare charge.

Hana was stuffing her short green hair into two mini-buns on the top of her head.  
"Yes, yes, I did, don't worry! It's not like I haven't done this before!" she said. She bent down to inspect the flowers. The small, pale pink buds spread open as she passed her fingers over them, releasing a calming scent into the room.

Ite inhaled, trying to keep his worries from making him change his mind and teleport her to the temple instead. Nara always insisted that they teleport where they needed to go, restricting Hana to flying under their combined supervision or to lessons. The Shaymin was a natural though, more graceful in the air then she ever was on the ground, and could fly circles around him. He wanted her to start flying more independently, and even though he could feel Nara staring him down hundreds of miles away, he knew the only way to see how she would do is if they went behind Nara's back. Besides, this would make things easier. He could start dinner, Hana would be occupied and bouncing for days, and, on top of it all, he wouldn't get yelled at for interrupting Nara's cleaning. Everything would be fine.

Hana sniffed the flowers, trying to find the right one that called for her to use it. She knew she could just pick whichever one she wanted, but something always pinged in the back of her mind, telling her to find the one that smelled best instead. She was able to pick out the sweet, sparkling scent of the 'right' flower, and picked a bloom that looked as if it was threatening to wilt on the spot if it wasn't plucked immediately.

She fastened the flower to the sash tied around her waist, and felt the rush of power wash through her, as if a spring breeze had suddenly flown past her and took her with it. She giggled, unable to hold back her excitement, and spun in place, already beginning to hover just the slightest.

"Okay! I'm ready to go get her!" she said, zipping past Ite and zooming out the door.

The Palkia had to fight off several horrible visions of her falling to her death or crashing into the side of the mountain as he quickly followed her outside into the snow.

"Call me when you get there! Or have Nara call me when you get there! And go straight to the temple, no crazy side trips!" he said. He was beginning to have the sinking feeling that Nara was finally going to find a way to murder him when they got back from the temple. Maybe she'd shove his head into the dirty dishwater and hold him there when he wasn't looking after dinner.

Hana spun around, hovering above the snow, and looked at him, eye-level and arms folded.

"I will, I will, I promise! But I mean, like..." she trailed off, the excitement on her face disappearing as she started to look a little worried herself. "Are you sure you're alright with this? You can just fly with me if you are, you seem kind of freaked out."

Ite was hardly ever this nervous about anything; Nara was the one who always fretted and followed her around like a mother hen. She almost wondered if something was going on that he wasn't telling her, or maybe sensed something that was making him uneasy. It didn't feel as if anything was different or wrong though. She wondered where this sudden burst of anxiety had come from on his end.

Ite opened and closed his mouth in indecision, watching her face to try and gauge how she really felt about the situation. He almost wanted to take her up on the offer, but at the same time, knew she was going to have to start flying on her own soon. She wasn't a child anymore, and his original suggestion to her flying by herself was to test her independence without Nara getting in the way. He didn't like going behind his sister's back, but in his opinion, her constant hovering was starting to get in the way of Hana's growth. She needed space to really learn how to some things. The unexplicable panic he was experiencing was throwing him off, and he took a moment to close his eyes and take a deep breath before answering her. He was getting worked up for no reason.

"No, it's… It's alright, really." he said, giving her a strained smile. "I think I'm just getting a taste of what Nara probably thinks when you run off on your own. I guess someone has to freak out for her when she's not around to do it, y'know? "

Hana giggled, unable to stop herself from laughing at the comparison. It made him smile more confidently, the action less strained on his face.

"I really do want you to do this on your own," he continued. "We can't always be with you, and it needs to start at some point. It'll be harder with Nara around, so we need to take this chance while we've got it. It's just tough letting you go..." He reached to straighten her sash, smoothing the wrinkles and making sure the Gracidea flower was secured.

Hana stood still, and let him fuss over her. "No, I get it, it's okay," she said. "I mean, yeah, flying solo is really dangerous, so it's okay if you worry, but you taught me everything and then some. I think I'll be alright." She took her glasses off, and swapped them out for a pair of goggles, tucking her glasses deep within her coat. "And if anything happens, I'll find a place to land and call you. Just like you taught me."  
Ite finally let out a breath of relief, happy to hear something so sober from her. Hana was bright, optimistic, and an horribly opportunistic prankster, but could surprise him and his sister with her good judgment. Her instincts had yet to lead her wrong, and he could feel an inkling of pride start in him at how she voiced her good decisions before she left.

"That's my girl," he said, trying not to beam too much at her.

She flashed Ite a huge smile. "See you soon!" she said, and then took a running start off the summit.

She took off, leaping into the air, and zooming away into the sky. Ite stood and watched until she became a red speck in the sky. After five minutes of looking at the empty blue sky, he headed back into the house.

He almost wished he had some magic way of watching her fly, to make sure she would be fine. Instead, he would have to occupy himself with making dinner to try and calm his active mind and check his phone every two minutes even though it wasn't on silent. He had to have faith in her, and this was how it would have to start. With a lot of second guessing, half-realized panic, and the faint warmth of pride that he and his sister had been able to raise such a smart young lady. If Nara didn't kill him, or ground Hana forever, the next step would be including her with these things. It would be alright.

About forty minutes later, when he had finished chopping all the vegetables for the stew and was contemplating calling Hana to make sure she had gotten to the temple, he thought he heard the screech of brakes being applied way too soon outside the house. Before he could even look out a window to check, someone was banging on the front door.

He quickly opened it to find a breathless togekiss and Nefertiti looking as if she had seen a ghost. The luxray's truck was still running in the front yard.

"We've got a problem!" she gasped. "Where's Nara and Hana?!"

Nara took a deep breath as she exited the Chamber of Time, walking out into the quiet, dimly lit hallway of the temple, having decided to attend to her duties instead of deep cleaning the main prayer room like she had originally intended. Something had begun tugging on her, the urge stronger each time she tried to ignore it and start cleaning, and pushed her towards the chamber with a growing sense of anxiety. She hadn't found anything unusual in her meditations though; the flow of time was progressing forward like it always had. The small patches of unknown drifted around in their usual spots. She had been surprised to see that one had shifted abruptly to the present when it had been far away in the distant future the last time she had checked, which did worry her a little. The world didn't seem as if it was falling apart around her though even if she could feel part of her brain insisting that it was.

She searched through her robes as she walked, feeling through the thick fabric to locate her phone and call Ite and ask him to check the news, or call Nerfertiti to see if anything was going on that they weren't aware of yet. The last bit of unknown space and time that had suddenly moved forward had been when the ancient Kyogre and Groudon had awoken all by themselves in Hoenn, and the last thing they needed was another potential disaster so soon. If more and more legendaries kept having hissy fits like they were, she wasn't sure how long the rest of the mundane world was going to put up with it. There was only so much chaos regular people could take.

She finally found her phone at the same time she walked into the main hallway. She shivered as a blast of cold air shot past her, making her pause for a moment in confusion. The only way the cold from outside could get in would be if someone had walked into the temple. The doors were bolted shut, and Tyga and Larry would have met her outside the chamber if they had met someone outside.  
She hurried down the hall, passing the thick wooden columns that lined the main hallway.

She saw the glint of pale blue and silver armor between the columns, and felt her stomach drop. Nara ran into the entry hall, and stopped short as she looked down at the guards, the two massive mamoswine who had withstood blizzards and arctic blasts to protect and look after the temple, flung across the floor like broken toys. Snow had started to creep into the hall, delicate strings floating over the floor and around whoever was standing directly in front of the dying light of the setting sun.

Nara shaded her eyes, gripping her phone with a determined strength not to lose it if she had to run and call for help. Ite could be there in an instant to help her apprehend whoever had the strength to knock out the guards. She squinted, trying to make out more then the glint of golden hair that floated in the door.

The phone dropped from her hand, her breath catching in her throat as red eyes, just like hers, looked up from staring at the fallen guards. Nara trembled where she stood, trying to find her voice as her sister stared at her from a spot she had thought she would never see her in again.

"Y… Yumi..."

She almost choked on the whisper, taking a step forward. She blinked, trying to fight the tears that wanted to come, and raised her arms without thinking, as if to grab her and make sure she was real. It broke her heart to see her beautiful sister as she was now; dirty, dressed in rags and face as cold as the snow around her bare feet. She remembered her as radiant, hair gleaming as to rival the sun, and red eyes sparkling with intelligence. What stood in the door was a ragged shadow.

"Is that really you, Yumi?" she said, almost afraid to believe it. The woman in front of her flinched at the sound of her name. Nara waited to see what she would do, the shock slowly wearing off, and replaced by wariness.

"Did you forget me so quickly?" Yumi's voice was sharp and cold, cutting all the hopeful feelings out of her. There was nothing in it except anger, and Nara suddenly thought that dropping her phone may have been a very bad idea.

The memories were coming back, being dug up by the look of contempt on her older sister's face. Yumi broke her stare to look at the columns, running a hand down the polished wood.

"I wouldn't be surprised if you did, you were so young after all…" she continued, stepping further into the temple. Her face changed as she looked up into the rafters, expression softening as her hand slipped from the column. She walked over the guard like a pile of rotting wood.

"This place hasn't changed at all…"

"Why are you here?"

Nara had backed away to where she had originally been, trying to carefully edge herself close enough to swipe up her phone and run.

Yumi turned her gaze back towards her, her eyes smoldering like coals in the dark. The sun had slipped behind the mountain range, the temple going dark except for a few lone candles placed in holders about the entry way. Nara was trying to think of ways to flood the temple with light; Yumi had always had a hard time with dealing with bright places after dark. She was suddenly grateful for the barrage of candles that were placed in the entry room behind her.  
She didn't want to admit to herself that she was having to use all the things she remembered her sister hated to try and protect herself. She didn't want to be doing this, not to Yumi. She could feel the need to fight, the instinct to lash out first to protect herself deep down inside her, but the overwhelming sense of guilt was eating it up.

"I _live_ here," Yumi said, starting to advance down the hall at an intimidating pace. Nara continued to backpedal. "Or did you forget that too?"

Nara sucked in a shaky breath, holding back tears again. "Yumi, please-"

"PLEASE?!"

Yumi finally erupted, the dam holding back her rage bursting at her younger sister's plea. It was her turn to flinch, remembering the way she had screamed as their mother passed judgment on her older sister. Her own pleas, begging and crying, falling on deaf ears. She had pressed the memories down deep, buried under the thousands of years she had been alive, and trying to forget there had once been three of them, not just two.

"DON'T YOU SAY THAT TO ME!" the Giratina roared. The temple groaned, the columns creeking as her presence became heavy, her anger pressing down on everything around her.

"HOW LONG DID SHE MAKE ME BEG?! HOW LONG DID YOU JUST STAND THERE, DOING NOTHING?! HOW LONG?!"

"I was a child!" Nara protested, finally stopping and standing her ground. She stood at the end of the hall, blocking the way into the main room. The candles flickered weakly around her.

"SO WAS I!" Yumi stopped in the middle of the hall, teeth bared in a snarl.

Nara braced herself for the worst, spreading her feet to at least give herself a small chance.

When it came to Ite, she would fight him tooth and nail, but when faced with her older sister, she would rather she let her tear her to pieces. It was what she and Ite deserved after abandoning her to the will of their mother.

"Yumi-! Don't do this! I don't want to fight you!" She begged again, hoping that she could see the pain on her face.

If she did, the blind hatred in her eyes didn't reflect it. The temple groaned again, the shadows stretching towards her sister and widening the hallway with the darkness.

"Neither would I!"  
The snarl started in front of her and swung around to the side of her face, and Nara barely ducked the swipe of claws coming out of the darkness at her. Yumi had disappeared from the hallway, the shadows writhing across the floor, and had jumped out next to her. Nara grabbed her phone up from the ground, and ran, fleeing from the entrance hall. She could feel the shadows grabbing at her ankles as she tried to hit the right buttons to get a hold of Ite. She skidded around one of the heavy oak columns, grabbing a hold of it and swinging herself around, and barely avoided the rush of darkness careening into her. Yumi crashed into the line of candles that welcomed people into the temple with a screech of pain, batting at her clothes to stop any flames and dash hot wax off of her skin. Nara took that as her cue to run towards the inner parts of the temple.  
If she could get back to the Chamber of Time, she could barricade herself in using the wards. The room was only meant for her; Yumi could rage and tear the temple down from the column up but she would never be able to break through the doors.

"NAAAAARAAAAA!"

She felt her heart jump into her throat at the enraged howl. Nara put the phone to her ear, racing through the halls and turning lights on as she went. The only thing that could stop her sister besides her speed was light. She could hear the Giratina tearing after her, the ringing of Ite's phone on the other barely audible over the popping of lightbulbs and the crash of wood being ripped apart.

Nara dove around another corner, running towards the room at the other end of the hall. She could see the pale blue light of the time flow peeking out from underneath the double doors. She just had to get there, and everything would be fine, it would be alright. The phone finally clicked on the other end.  
"Ite-!"  
" _You know what to do!_ _ **BEEP**_ _!"_

"MOTHER-! ITE, YOU ASS, ANSWER YOUR DAMN PHONE- AH-!"

Claws sank themselves into her ankles, and she was yanked backwards, phone clattering to the floor. She struggled to stop herself, hands glowing blue as she summoned daggers, and stabbed them into the floor. She held onto them with all her might for one terrifying second as the claws pulled with monster strength, feeling like they'd rather rip her feet off then let go. They suddenly stopped, only for Yumi to appear in front of her, the hall darkening as her shadows swarmed the end of it.

Nara scrambled to get up, but her sister grabbed her by the hair and slammed her face into the floor. The daggers fell from her hands as Yumi dragged her up onto her feet, only to punch her back down. She kicked her across the floor with a snarl before descending on her again.

"FOR FIVE THOUSAND YEARS, I WAS TRAPPED IN THAT HELLHOLE!" she roared, kicking and hitting her all the way to the opposite end of the hall. She moved too fast for Nara to even think about reacting; their difference in speed had completely changed.

She picked her sister up by the front of her robe, and slammed her into the wall, lifting her to eye level. Nara peered at her, blood flowing freely from her face. One of her eyes had already started to swell shut. If Yumi was feeling any pity towards her, she couldn't see it at all, and she doubted she ever would.

"Do you want to know what it was like there?" Yumi hissed, her grip on her robe tightened so the fabric started to twist around her throat. Her red eyes shot straight through her, teeth bared.

"There's no air. No light. Nothing but an endless void of destruction."

She slammed her hand against the space next to her head, the shadows around them suddenly gathering underneath it and twisting into a wavering pool in the wood. Yumi leaned in, nose nearly touching her beaten sister's.

"The only thing you can do is think about how it all went wrong!"  
Nara choked, trying to suck in a breath of terror as she recognized the mass of wriggling black that shined on the surface like a dark lake under her sister's free hand. Her sense of survival came roaring back to life, and she struggled against the arm that held her above the floor, kicking and clawing at Yumi's grip. She could hear her phone buzzing somewhere down the hall.  
"LET'S SEE HOW YOU LIKE IT!"

Yumi lifted her up over the blackhole. Nara sank her teeth into her wrist, but the only thing it seemed to do was make her tighten her grip. She could feel the cold biting into her back, the darkness yawning wide open behind her. The ends of her hair started to freeze.

"Nara!"

The world froze at the sound of another person's voice. Nara looked beyond her sister and saw Hana in her flying gear, apprehensive and confused, looking like she was going to make a run for it at any second. The fear she had felt for her own life was nothing compared to the terror that struck her now.

"HANA RUN!"

Nara lunged forward, trying to grab her sister's face, trying to grab anything, hands glowing blue with power. But it was too late. Yumi had turned to look at who had spoken at the same time Nara had, and promptly dropped her sister. Nara crumpled despite herself, still clawing at her sister, and threw herself forward to try and grab her legs. Her broken body rebelled against her will, making her slow and hiss with pain.

Hana watched as the woman with the golden hair suddenly disappeared, vanishing in a strange dark smoke, and then reappeared inches away from her. She gasped, frozen where she was as she looked up at red eyes that looked just like Ite's and Nara, but were cold and far away like stars. She wanted to move, to run like Nara had screamed for her to do, as the woman bent down to look into her face. Her black and red eyes were wide, like she couldn't believe what she was seeing, and then glimmered with… It almost looked like pain, like it hurt to look at her. Hana could feel her heart hammering in her chest as they stared at each other for what seemed like an eternity, the pain in the other woman's eyes softening into something else. The numb feeling in her legs that had started when she had first looked at her began to ebb.

Hana jumped as the woman lifted a hand, and barely touched her face, her cold fingers grazing against her cheek.

"I thought you were all gone…" she whispered, and Hana's chest twisted at the pain and gratitude in her voice, completely different from the rage she had seen earlier. Who was this woman?

Footsteps coming from the entrance of the temple broke the spell, the woman's head snapping up and everything Hana had just seen on her face disappearing in an instant, replaced by anger and fear. She vanished again, melting into black smoke, and leaving Hana staring at an empty space where she had been. She stood there for a moment, trying to understand what had just happened, until she noticed Nara struggling to get up from the floor.

"Nara!" She gasped, running to her. She slipped on the floor, catching herself on the wall, and looked down. The dark, hardwood floor was slick with blood. Hana looked up to her guardian, fear turning over in her gut as she saw her face, her nose dripping profusely and the small patches of unbroken skin starting to turn shades of red. Nara tried to let go of the wall, attempting to move on her own, but stumbled. Hana caught her, trying to hold her upright as best as she could.

"Nara, are you okay? Who was that? What on earth happened here?!" She burst out, unable to stop herself.

She looked back down the hall, and saw Ite running towards them, followed by Nefertiti and a rather winded looking togekiss. Nara finally straightened herself up, trying to gently lean on her for support and looked at her with exhausted eyes.  
"That was my sister."


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note:** If there's one chapter you read of this small fanfiction, I would highly suggest you read this one. I'm very happy with how it turned out as character interaction is one of my favorite things to write! Please enjoy the fun dialogue and high emotions, and get ready as we head towards the climax!

Happy reading!

 **Chapter Three**

Clara leaped up from her seat, and slammed her hands down on the kitchen table, making everyone in the room jump. Ite and Nara stared up at her from where they sat while Peregrine helplessly looked on, his pencil and paper dropping from his hands.  
"Cut the crap already!" she barked at the legendaries. "I've had enough of this wild goose chase you two are putting us through! Tell us what's really going on here!"

Nara looked away from her fierce gaze, picking nervously at her fingers. Ite could only gape at her for half a second before he regained his composure.

"Wha- We are!" he protested, putting his hands up. "We've told you everything we kno-"  
"No, you haven't!" Clara cut him off, her amber eyes blazing with frustration.

"Everyone up and down this mountain has told us that Giratina is out for revenge, and yet here we sit, two weeks later, all still miraculously in one piece! Why hasn't she come to kill you two?! And why didn't she kill Hana back at the temple if she's so hellbent on wiping out the Shaymin?! You keep telling us the same stories, over and over, but they aren't adding up to what we've got now! So, please, tell us the truth-!"

"Okay, okay!"

Peregrine grabbed a hold of her arm, breaking her out of her tirade. She looked down sharply at him, breathing hard and smoke threatening to start coming out of her nose.

He gestured for her to sit back down.

"Easy there, you're gonna burn the house down, for Ho-Oh's sake! Sit down!" he said. He had known she had been ready to snap, but hadn't expected her to jump down their throats so quickly.

Clara finally sat back down, only to nearly jump across the table at the Dialga and Palkia to continue her attack, her eyes practically glowing. Peregrine looked like he was going to give up and hide under the table until she was done. There was no stopping her when she was on to something, and though he had his suspicions as well, he wished she was gentler in her methods.

"I am _very_ good at my job, and do you want to know why?" she said, refusing to take the pressure off. "It's because I know _exactly_ when people are lying to me. So, you two can either start telling the truth, or we can arrest you for obstruction of justice right now. It's your choice."

Nara looked like she was about to burst into tears. In fact, the Dialga had been increasingly uncomfortable with them in the house the longer the investigation continued.

"You can't do that! Are you kidding me?! On what grounds?!" Ite shouted, oblivious to his sister's increasing anxiety.

Nara still hadn't looked up, her gaze flickering anywhere but looking forward or at her brother. Her brothers protests seemed like minor background noise to her as she felt the typhlosion's eyes still on her. She took a deep breath, and grabbed one of her brother's now waving arms, pulling it down to rest back on the table. He stopped what he was doing, looking down at her in confusion. She had been silent for nearly the entire time Clara and Peregrine had been in their home.

She slowly looked up at him, the anxiety clear on her face, and he immediately started to shake his head, not caring if the officers saw.

"Don't-!"

"Ite, we have to!"

"I said no!"

At the word no, Nara's face darkened, all the anxiety wiped from her face and replaced by bitter determination. Her mouth pressed into a hard, stubborn line that said she would do exactly the opposite of what he wanted her to just to spite him for daring to tell her no. The two stared at each other for a few seconds, the air in the room growing heavy. The Dialga broke the gaze to look back at the officers before Ite could open his mouth again.

"It's all a lie," she said quickly, the pressure gone in the instant she said it. Ite slapped his hands over his face, groaning into his palms.

"It's not a lie!" he moaned, hoping what was happening in front of him wasn't real.

"Then what would you call it?!" Nara spat, turning towards him. Every ounce of stubborn anger showed itself all at once in her face. "What would you know, you weren't even there! Maybe if you hadn't been off chasing skirts, you could have at least tried to help!"

Peregrine glanced at Clara, who only barely shrugged her shoulders at him as she tried to carefully watch the brother and sister. She was just as lost as him.

Ite's face twisted with anger at her accusation, his red eyes narrowing.

"And what good would it have done?! So we could both watch her get destroyed?!"

"We _abandoned_ her, Ite!" The anger was gone, Nara desperately trying to reach her brother with what she was saying. "This is our fault, and you just want to sit there and pretend like we had nothing to do with it! We need to do something!"

"Nara, she almost killed you! What can we do?! She'd probably rather see us burn alive then talk to us." He folded his arms, turning away and refusing to look at her. "It won't do any good."

"We still need to try! She's our sister, she's family!"

Peregrine quickly looked at Clara, the scent of smoke catching his attention, and saw her wide eyed with her hands clamped on the table, ready to burst into flames from held back anger. She was getting more frustrated by the second, and Ite and Nara's back and forth wasn't helping. He waved his hands around in the air, getting the siblings' attention.

"Alright, alright, that's enough!" he shouted, gesturing like he was trying to stop a band from continuing and they finally looked at them, as if realizing they were still in the room. He looked from one legendary to the other.

"Obviously there is a lot of history here, and we get it, really. This is tough. But right now we really need to focus on what's important! We need to find your sister, and fast."  
Clara leaned back in her chair, calming down as she saw him taking the next step in getting the truth out of them. She was usually the battering ram, and her partner picked up the pieces after her. The constant bickering between the two had started to get to her though; every time they had come by the house, they wound up arguing about something ridiculous. This had obviously been serious, but she would have rathered they come out and say what was going on instead of stalling everything again.

Peregrine drummed a finger into the table, trying to physically show his point as Ite and Nara listened.

"Have you two thought about what it's like for her out there?" he said. Ite glanced at Nara, his brow knitting together at the question. "She's been gone for five thousand years; what do you think she's going to do when she sees a plane? Or a car?"  
He pointed out the window. "She's out there right now, alone, and with no idea where or when she is. The longer you two stall for whatever it is you think is so important, the more likely it is she's going to either hurt herself or someone else. So, will you please explain what's all a lie?"

They went quiet again, Nara peeking over at Ite, who only seemed to fold his arms tighter and set his jaw. She scoffed, rolling her eyes at him, and turned to Clara and Peregrine. It looked like she was going to have to do all the explaining.

"The legend of Yumi killing all the Shaymin and then coming back for revenge," she said. "...It's a lie."  
"Not all of it," Ite grumbled. Nara rolled her eyes once again and continued.

"Okay, _fine_ , some of it is a lie. But most of it is, and that's why… Well, you've already figured half of it out, really," she said, gesturing to Clara. "You wanted to know why she didn't try to kill Hana in the temple, right? Because if she really murdered all the Shaymin in cold blood like all the stories say, she would have killed her right there too."

Clara nodded her head, following her train of thought. She had guessed correctly about what she had been wondering; it was that hole that had really started to make her wonder what was going on that they weren't saying. Nara sighed, closing her eyes and seemed to be steeling herself for what she was about to say.

"...The Shaymin genocide was an accident," she said.

If the house had been quiet before, it was even more so now. The faint creaking of the foundation was the only sound in the place as Nara let the two officers absorb what she had revealed. Peregrine stopped writing in his notepad to stare at Nara, putting his pencil down.  
"How… How on earth is a genocide an accident?" he said, not sure if he believed what he was hearing. "You don't just wipe out an entire race of people like you do stubbing your toe!"

"You have to believe me when I say that Yumi would have never hurt any of the Shaymin." said Nara. "She was a great friend to their people, and she would have done anything for them if they had asked. She loved them all like they were her children."  
"Then what happened?" said Clara, taking the pencil and pad away from Peregrine, who was too focused on listening to take notes anymore. She would have been the same way, but she wasn't going to let this not be written down.

Nara fell silent again, looking down and folding her hands in front of her. Suddenly, the weariness of the last two weeks seem to show itself on her, and while she did look tired, the sadness was heavier. Her shoulders slumped down, the Dialga looking smaller than she really was in her seat. Ite still hadn't moved, but had grown slowly more grim looking as Nara explained Yumi's true disposition to the Shaymin. She took another deep breath before she continued.

"Yumi started to… Change." she began. "First it was her skin, then it was her hair, and then after that… Her powers started to become erratic, more intense and violent. It was like they were trying to break out of her, like she was just a conduit. It started out as little hiccups, but then they started getting bigger and bigger. I mean, one time she had an outburst, and she nearly took out one side of the temple. You can see where the damage still happened, sometimes you'll find little bits of rocks floating around."

Clara was writing furiously in the notepad while Peregrine had gone totally still as he listened, thinking back to the blurry figure he had seen in the ruins and comparing her to the siblings in front of him. He would have to ask Clara what she had looked like so he could make a better comparison since she was had been the only one to be up close to the woman.

"What kind of powers does she have exactly?" Clara interjected before Nara could continue. "Like, gravity, or darkness, or something like that?"

"A bit of both," she said, making a so-so motion with a hand and scrunching her nose up in thought as she tried to explain. "Her first title is Mistress of Antimatter, so I think you can imagine how destructive her powers can be when they're out of control. Her powers affect reality itself, and can rip anything apart when she's lost it."

"So, the Shaymin…" Peregrine didn't finish his question, already thinking of what may have happened.

Nara's eyes flickered down to her hands again, her fingers working to try and pick apart her nails even though they were already clipped as short as possible. She squeezed them into fists as she blinked rapidly, trying to stop herself from sniffling. Ite's folded arms loosened a bit as he looked down at her, his mouth softening into a faint, worried frown. She shrugged helplessly.

"...She was… Just going for a visit," she said, her voice small and far away. "I was supposed to meet up with her there to help her with the… Little ones. We babysat them all together."  
She sniffed, and wiped hard at her face, not wanting to look up at the two officers. Clara had stopped writing, the pencil gripped tight in her hand.

"When I got there, there was nothing left. It was all gone, not even a shred of grass. It was all burnt or something, it was just… Gone. And she was wandering around like she didn't even know where she was, like she was lost…"

Nara looked up, her eyes faintly pink around the edges despite the dark sclera, but seemed like she wanted to keep going with her explanation.

"Mother was furious. It didn't matter how many times I told her it was an accident, she wouldn't change her mind. Yumi had to be punished for destroying the Shaymin, accident or not, and so she banished her to the Distortion Realm for eternity," she said, scowling towards the end. She shrugged at the current situation. "Or so we thought. I never dreamed that she would suddenly come back like this."

Clara finally finished scribbling everything she had missed down on the pad of paper, and quickly shoved it back at Peregrine, who nearly jumped out of his seat at the sudden movement. She ran her hands through her hair, looking like she was in physical pain over how exasperated she was at the situation. She rubbed the bridge of her nose with a knuckle.

"And this is the truth?" she said, leaning forward to pin Nara and Ite down again with her fiery gaze. Nara nodded her head vigorously.

"Every word, I swear!"

"BULLCRAP!"

Clara shouted the word with enough force to shake the room, the dishes rattling in the cupboards. Ite flung an arm out in front of Nara, afraid that the typhlosion was going to fly into some kind of inexplicable rage. She seemed so angry she didn't know what to do with herself, smoke starting to stream from her nose.

"THAT IS CRAP! ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! A GOD DAMN ACCIDENT AND SHE GETS LOCKED UP FOR FIVE THOUSAND YEARS, YOU HAVE GOT TO BE SHITTING ME, **GOD DAMMIT**!"

She fell silent just as quickly as she had exploded, putting her face in her hands as she tried to catch her breath. Peregrine had edged his chair a few inches away from her when she had started shouting, but gently put a hand on her back when she was finished. She shook her head, and after a minute, finally looked up, her fingers still over half her face as she stared at the table in disbelief. The anger lingered, but they could see that it hadn't been directed at them at all.

"That's not right…" she said into her hands, shaking her head again. "That's cruelty, not punishment…"

She looked up at Nara and Ite, her gaze hardening into the iron resolve she was known for. She wasn't going to let Yumi's story end in tragedy again, not if she had anything to say about it. Yumi would answer for what she had done since her escape, but there was no way she would let anyone put her away again without just cause. She'd turn her badge in first.

"What can we do?" she asked them. "We have to help her. Pippin's right, she's been out there by herself for too long. Do you have any idea where she could have gone?"

Ite and Nara looked at each other, at a sudden loss at the shift in the conversation. Ite shook his head first.

"No, we've told you pretty much everywhere we could think of in the beginning," he said.

Nara shook her head next, following up what he said.

"Well, almost everywhere, but we would have heard if she was in Floraroma Valley by now. It's not exactly easy to hide in such a small town," she said. "The only other places she could possibly be is the area around the temple, but we would have known about that too. It's like she's vanished off the face of the earth, really."

"What about Sendoff Spring?"

Everyone turned around towards the kitchen hallway all at once at the new voice. Hana was peeking around the corner in her coat and scarf. It looked as if she had come from outside, but none of them had heard the back door open and there wasn't any snow on her boots either. Nara started to get out of her chair.

"Hana, sweetie, how long have you been there?!" she asked, her voice strained. "I-I thought you were in town, I sent you to the library…"

Hana glanced down, biting her lip. Clara raised an eyebrow at the young lady. She had only really seen the Shaymin in passing; Nara and Ite had been doing a pretty good job of making sure she was always out of the house when they came around. It had been another thing that had started to bother her. Why keep a witness from being around them if they weren't try to hide something? Hana scuffed the heel of her boot on the floor as Nara folded her arms at her, waiting for an answer.  
"I, uh, I never left…" she said, giving a small, sheepish smile. "I came back around when you started yelling." She nodded towards Clara, who looked away a bit awkwardly. The typhlosion tried not to meet Peregrine's 'I-told-you-so' grin as she did.

Nara started to quickly try and herd her back upstairs to her room, getting up and walking across the kitchen.

"Alright, good for you, you stuck your nose right where I told you not to," she said, trying to shoo her out of the hallway. "Go upstairs, I don't want you involved."  
"But-!"  
"No buts! This is way too dangerous! Upstairs, now!"

"Wait a minute!"

Peregrine had turned in his chair to see Hana better, and Nara paused in her actions when he spoke up. Hana was hanging on to the corner of the hallway like Nara was going to have to drag her away to get her to move. She was tired of being kept out of something that directly involved her, and when she had heard Clara start shouting about two seconds after she had been booted outside, she had made up her mind. She had snuck in through her bedroom window, scaling the side of the house, and had been sitting in the stairwell the entire time, listening intently as the truth had finally come out.

"What's Sendoff Spring?" he asked, directing the question at Hana.

She glanced at Nara, and then took a few steps into the kitchen despite the quick scowl of disapproval it earned her.

"We can tell you about it," Nara grumbled, walking past Hana, and angling herself the slightest to block her way into the kitchen.

"That's great and all, but we're running out of ideas and time," said Clara. "And she's the first one to come up with something new in two weeks of nothing." She nodded at Hana to continue.  
"Go ahead, we're listening."  
"It's a Shaymin shrine, one of our oldest and most sacred," she said, walking around Nara and pulling out one of the chairs for herself. "Next to Flower Paradise, it's one of the only ones that's nearly impossible to find unless you already know what you're looking for."

"And what makes you think she might be there?" Peregrine asked. Clara had started writing again, letting him take over for the time being. She needed to cool down a bit before she jumped back into it, and even then, Hana seemed more willing to cooperate then Ite and Nara had been. Pergrine could handle this much better.

Hana shrugged. "If I was trying to find a place to hide and I wanted to make sure no one could find me, I'd go to some place only I would know how to get to." she said, and then glanced back at Nara. "And you said she was a great friend to my people, so it would make sense if she knew where it was."

"Where is it then?" Clara spoke up, looking up from her notes.

Hana hesitated, waiting to see what her guardians would do. As much as she liked to jump into things without thinking, she knew the shrines her people had built were precious and sacred locations. She didn't want to give an answer when it might lead to the police trampling through the shrine on a manhunt. Ite looked up at Nara, who shrugged her shoulders as if to say that they didn't have much choice right now. Putting up another fight would most likely lead to more chaos, and maybe even to the shrine being desecrated because they didn't speak up.

Clara and Peregrine waited patiently.

"We'd love to tell you," Ite started, leaning forward in his seat. "But you have to understand first that Sendoff Spring is holy ground. No one, and I mean no one, is supposed to go in unless they're a Shaymin. We can't let an entire team of police officers in there."

"That's a bit of a problem though," Peregrine said, folding his arms. "How can we search the place then if we're not supposed to go in? You've given us a lead, which is great, but we can't use it at all."

"I could go in!" Hana piped up eagerly, her pink eyes sparkling with inspiration. "Then you wouldn't have to wo-!"

"Absolutely not!" Nara said, putting her hands on the back of the Shaymin's chair. "If Yumi is in Sendoff Spring, there is no way you are going in there alone! Not ever!"

Hana turned around to look up at the Dialga, face set in the same stubborn way hers had been before when Ite had tried to forbid her to speak up. Nara wasn't the only one who could dig their heels in, and Hana had learned from the best.

"I'm the only one who can go in!" she countered. "Unless someone magically has x-ray vision or something, who else is going to be able to see if she's really there? Do you want someone else to go in there instead?"

"Wha- No! But you can't-!"

"I want to help! Please!" Hana interrupted, the desperation in her voice shocking Nara into silence. She grabbed a hold of one of Nara's hands, looking up at her.

"You and Ite have been doing everything on your own for so long. You've helped me so much when you never had to. Please, let me help you with this!" She said, her pink eyes pleading up at her.

Nara opened and closed her mouth, struggling to make a decision. She wanted to keep putting her foot down, to shut the girl out as quickly as she could for her own protection, but the image of Yumi standing in front of Hana back at the temple wouldn't leave her mind. The air had changed in that moment, the heaviness of her sister's dire presence lifted if only for a few seconds. Even if she had been struggling to get up, she still remembered what it had felt and looked like. She had asked Hana what had happened later when she was healed up, and it had been difficult for the girl to explain. The most the Shaymin could describe was that Yumi had only said something about them being all gone and had looked… Sad. The weak description and image wouldn't leave her alone, along with the impression that this was important, and the pained look on Hana's face made her think of it even more. But letting her face Yumi all by herself, who could have changed for the worse from being in the Distortion Realm, made her heart ice over in terror.

"It doesn't matter if you want to help us."

Ite's voice made her look up from her thoughts. He was sitting like he had been before, arms folded and brow furrowed. It seemed like Hana was going to have to try and move him next if she really wanted to do this. She turned around to face him, already opening her mouth to protest at him, when he put a hand up.

"It's got nothing to do with you, it's got to do with them," he said, quickly speaking over her and gesturing at Clara and Peregrine.

Clara glanced at Peregrine and then looked back to Ite.

"Uh… What about us?" she said, erring on the side of caution in this conversation.

She was starting to get the feeling that they were on thin ice at the moment, and while she was always up for a challenge, she knew how delicate the introduction of a sacred shrine made the situation.  
It wouldn't matter how much they shoved or tried to persuade them to let them into the shrine, she knew Ite and Nara wouldn't budge, and she wouldn't expect them to either. The first job of the International Police was to try and keep the peace across the world as best as they could, supporting local authorities and going after big names. The second was supporting and helping legendaries, people with extraordinary powers, lifespans, and traditions that could sometimes come into conflict with regular people. She knew better then to ask them to let them into the shrine, but the potential of Yumi using it as her hiding place added another level of complication to the already huge mess they had on their hands.

"Like I said before, we absolutely can not, under circumstances, let you into the shrine," he said, saying exactly what she thought he would. "We can't even let you know where it is, really. So, even if you do want to investigate, we can't let you anywhere near the place. We can just let a team of police officers stake out the shrine, and risk jumping in there if Yumi does happen to be hiding in it."

He turned his attention to Hana next as he continued. "And if we let you go see if she was there, you wouldn't be able to have any serious back up at all. It would just be you, me, and Nara, and there's no way that's happening. Yumi isn't like us; she doesn't hold back for anyone and I doubt her being locked up for centuries has changed that."

Hana ground her teeth where she sat, fuming under the solid argument Ite had made against her. She had thought the hurdle would have been Nara, but it looked like her guardians had decided to switch personalities somehow. It was usually Nara that she had to convince; she had never had to twist Ite's arm for anything.

Peregrine rubbed the back of his neck as Ite finished his explanation. "Uh, well… She wouldn't be able to have serious back up anyway, actually…" he said, sounding as if he wished he wasn't saying what he was.

This got Nara's attention, the woman perking up behind Hana. "What do you mean?"

Clara closed her notebook, and turned so she could look at everyone seated at the table. She had started to wonder when she was going to have to lay out the situation for them all.

"He means that if you decided to stake out the shrine, it would just be me and Pippin there," she said. "There wouldn't be any backup, it would just be all of us."

"But that doesn't make any sense," said Nara, tightening her hold on Hana's shoulder. "You said that this was an international emergency; why wouldn't you have more people involved?"

"It is, but it's also under a very strict need-to-know rule," she said. "Because of the legends around your sister, if word got out that she was running around loose, it could cause a mass panic. The only people in the International Police who know that Yumi is out, is me, Pippin, Sergeants Nefertiti and Loki, and Ra, our senior commissioner."

"So, basically," Peregrine interjected. "We _are_ the backup. Nefertiti and Loki are still in Solace Town trying to help figure out what happened at Lost Tower, and that's what front page news is right now so…"

Hana perked up as she quickly connected the dots before Nara and Ite had the chance to speak up.

"...You're hoping we can find Yumi before the media get bored with Solace Town!" she said. Peregrine nodded his head, giving her a smile for her quick thinking. He was starting to like how fast this girl figured things out; it was definitely more fun than banging their heads against Ite and Nara's iron wills.

"We weren't kidding when we said that we're running out of time," said Clara, continuing her partner's train of thought. "Nefertiti and Loki have been doing a great job feeding the media exactly what they want to hear, but they're going to run out of material eventually. And by then, there'll be no point in keeping it a secret; we'll have to tell people for their own safety."

The room fell silent as Nara looked down at Hana and then over at Ite, who was frowning at his folded his hands in thought. She jumped the slightest as Hana reached up to hold her hand again, and to give her a reassuring smile. She tried to smile back, but new and more serious questions had started to pop up in her mind.

How were they going to explain the legend to the rest of the world when the truth all finally came out? She wouldn't be surprised if parts of the world, even parts of their home, would be furious with them for not correcting the legend thousands of years ago. It had popped up all on its own, and she and Ite hadn't known what to do about it until it was too late. They had waited to hear from their mother, but an answer had never come. Now they were going to have to deal with the consequences of their indecision.

"So, what can we do?" Ite broke his silence and looked from one officer to the other.

Clara shrugged her shoulder. "It really is up to you three," she said. "We're not going to force you to let us know where the shrine is, or ask you to have Hana investigate. There is a lot of risk here, and our jobs are to protect you, not put you in more danger."

"But at the same time," Peregrine spoke up, glancing to Nara. "If you think there's a real possibility that your sister is at Sendoff Spring, then we really need you to think about this before giving us a final decision." Clara nodded at him, agreeing with what he had added on.

Ite sighed, folding his arms, and then looked to Nara and Hana see if they had anything to say. Nara turned to Clara and Peregrine.

"Can you give us some time alone? We need to talk about this by ourselves," she said, hoping that they would agree.

Clara started to get out of her chair. "Of course, uh… We'll be right outside," she said, despite Peregrine making a noise that obviously meant he did not want to stand outside in the snow. She pinned him with a look that told him not to complain, and they marched out the front door.

Nara waited for them to exit the house, and then looked squarely at Ite, who hadn't budged much from his seat. He seemed determined to stare at his hands, hoping that if he didn't move or speak, he wouldn't be forced to change his mind.

"I think we should check out the shrine," she said, making him snap his head up.

Hana turned around to face her, obviously confused but hopeful at the suggestion.  
"B-but you can't go in!" she said. "Well, I mean, you can, but you're not supposed to! It's only supposed to be me!"

"It's true that only Shaymin are supposed to enter the shrine, but what choice do we have?" said Nara. "You heard them, we're running out of time! Do you really want the whole world to be hunting our sister like she's a criminal? She could be right there! All we'd have to do is talk to her-"

"Talk to her?!"

Ite finally exploded, standing up out of his chair.

"She nearly killed you! You think she's going to want to talk to us?! And you want to send Hana in there alone, are you crazy?!"

"I don't think she'll hurt me!"

Hana spoke up instead of Nara like he expected, making him take a step back as she hopped out of her chair as well. She glanced at Nara before looking back at Ite, determined to change his mind. They weren't going to get anywhere if all they did was go back and forth.

"Clara was right; if she wanted to hurt me, she would have done it at the temple," she said. "Instead, all she did was look at me like… Like she wasn't even sure I was there."

Ite's eyes threatened to pop out of his head he seemed so beside himself with frustration. He hadn't expected the two of them to gang up on him, but he certainly wasn't going to go down without a fight, if he was going down at all. He refused to give in to such a dangerous idea.

"No! It's too dangerous! Just because she didn't do it then doesn't mean she might not another time!"

"Then I'll go!" said Nara. "I know the way to the shrine, I know where to loo-!"  
"NO!" Ite thundered, making them both jump. "There is no way you're going in there! No one is going to look in that damn shrine!"

Nara narrowed her eyes at him from across the table; she was starting to think that he was putting his foot down for a reason he wasn't saying. Her brother could be a royal ass when he wanted to be, but this was starting to get ridiculous, even for him.

"Is that all you know how to say right now?!" she said, advancing on him. "What is your deal?! It's like you don't even want her to be found!"

Ite opened his mouth, and then quickly shut it, his red eyes darting to Hana, who had scurried to the kitchen hallway when Nara had started moving towards him. He felt a twinge of guilt as he saw the look of indecisive fear on her face, the Shaymin having never been present during a serious conflict between him and his sister, and then looked to Nara's determined gaze, the woman burning with a silent fury. He groaned, buckling under the pressure from both women, and waved a hand at Hana.

"Hana, I need you to go outside for a minute… Please," he said, looking away from her.

The Shaymin quickly darted out the front door, not even attempting to argue. She knew when a serious throwdown was about to start, and this was starting to look like the mother of them all.

Ite turned around to face the kitchen sink, his huge hands gripping the edge of the counter. He heard the swish of Nara's robes as she folded her arms behind him.

"Now are you going to tell me what's going on?" she said. "Or are you going to keep being an asshole and waste all of our time?"

He whipped around at the accusation, his face twisting with frustration and anxiety. "I'm trying to protect you!" he insisted.

Nara scoffed at him, throwing her hands up at his reply. She had heard this argument before.

"I don't _need_ protecting, Ite! We're not kids anymore!" she snapped, her lips curling with disgust.

Ite started to pace in front of her, breathing hard as he tried not to wring his hands. Nara continued.

"Quit blocking all of us already! Either help us figure out what to do, or get out of our way! I don't need your permission to go look for my sister!"

He stopped where he was at her declaration, and all the color drained from his face. "You can't!"  
"And why not?! What are you going to do, tell me no again?!"

"Yes! I mean- no! I'm mean-!"

Nara backed him into a corner of the kitchen, not letting him physically dodge her as well as try to avoid her questions. He looked down at her, terrified, and clinging to the counter as if his life depended on it. In all of her life, she had never seem him as scared as he was right now, and she was determined to find out what he was keeping from her.

"Then what?! What is it?! Tell me what is going on!"

"I-!"

"TELL ME!"

"I CAN'T LOSE YOU-!"

He suddenly picked her up as he shouted, shaking her as he did. Nara went stiff in his hands, staring at him in wide-eyed shock at the panic on his face. He held her there for a moment, her feet dangling in the air, as he panted in terror. He set her down after a second, and hung his head, his hands still gripping her arms.

"I can't… I can't carry you like that again," he said quietly. "Please don't make me do it. You were bleeding everywhere..."

Nara was silent as she tried to figure out what he was saying, and then remembered him carrying her out of the temple two weeks ago. She hadn't been able to walk after Yumi had attacked her, too weak and in shock from her sister's beating.

"You won't, I promise!" she said earnestly, trying to reach him. "I don't think she's going-!"  
"I'm not talking about earlier!"

Ite dropped his hands from her arms, his arms falling limply to his side as he looked down at the ground. She tried to move forward and look up into her brother's face.

"What… Do you mean?" she said, trying to ignore the way her heart was starting to pound away. There was something he hadn't told her, and she almost didn't want to know. She was getting the awful, pit-like feeling she always did before receiving bad news.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you…" he murmured. Nara shook her head.

"You can tell me that later!" she said, insistent. "What do you mean?!"

Ite took a deep breath, and finally looked at her for the first time during the whole argument. His eyes looked as if he had been awake for days, dark circles and lines appearing where they hadn't been before, and Nara felt her heart sink to the floor. How long had he kept all this to himself? Yumi had always been a tough subject to bring up around him, when she was brought up at all, and now she was wondering if what he had been keeping from her had something to do it.

"When Yumi… Lost control, and you found her, she attacked you," he said. He shook his head. "I don't think she knew what she was doing, I don't even think she knew it was you, but… When I got there, she was trying to kill you."  
Nara could only stare at him as he continued. "I pulled her off of you, and I ran to Mom. I grabbed you and ran, and I don't know what happened to Yumi afterwards, but I had to get you away, you were dying and-and-!"

Nara snapped out her trance as she saw tears starting to well up in her brother's eyes, the man attempting to screw his face up a certain way so they wouldn't fall, and she rushed forward to hug him, burying her face in his shirt. He hugged her back, squeezing her tight as he tried to breathe regularly.

"Please…" he begged, his voice muffled in her hair. She felt the tears he had been holding back hit the back of her neck as she held him. "Don't make me do it again! You're the only family I've got left!"

She gave her brother an extra squeeze. "Don't worry…" she said. "I won't, I promise."

They stood there for a moment, Nara absorbing what she had just been told, and Ite slowly calming down. Nara pulled away, looking up at him.

"But I'm not your only family anymore," she said. She grabbed his hands, gently shaking them as he looked down at her. "Yumi is out there, and she needs us. Both of us this time, not just me. We have a chance to be a family again."

"But what about Hana?" Ite said, letting go of her hands and folding his arms. It wasn't out of stubbornness this time, and more out of thought. "We can't send her in there by herself, especially since we don't know how Yumi will react to her. I wasn't putting up a front when I said she might not attack her a second time."

Nara looked down, huffing as she considered voicing the impression she had been having about Hana and Yumi. The image of Yumi standing in front of Hana came to her mind again, this time in a different light, with bits of sunshine and greenery obviously somewhere in the distance. She bit her lip in indecision, and finally looked up at Ite, brow knit together.

"I have… A hunch," she said, knowing that she sounded ridiculous. "I don't think Yumi's going to hurt her, I just have this feeling."

Ite stared at her. "A hunch?" he repeated skeptically. "You're kidding, right? You want me to let you risk Hana's life over a _feeling_?"

Nara stomped her foot and threatened to start backing him into the corner again. "I am the damn ruler of time!" she said, waving her arms at him in indignation. "My hunches are very good and accurate, thank you very much!"

"Okay, okay! But how-?"

 _THUMP-THUMP-THUMP-!_

A sudden banging on the window outside cut him off, and they both looked towards the windows that flanked the front door. Clara had knocked on the glass, obviously trying to catch their attention, and pointed towards the other window. Peregrine and Hana were waving their arms around outside, and only stopped when they looked at them. Hana was pointing at Peregrine, the two sharing the same ecstatic, wild grin that usually meant either trouble or brilliance.

"We have an idea!" she shouted to them through the glass, her voice muffled. "Let us in, it's freezing out here!"


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note:** And here we are! The chapter we've all been waiting for! Get ready because it's going to be one hek of a ride. Grab some popcorn and get settled in, because it's going to be a long one.

Happy reading!

 **Chapter Four**

 **C** lara squinted up at the mountain, the sky slowly turning into the strange, blinding darkness that came with the few hours before sunrise. She hadn't even known this part of Sinnoh had existed, but according to Ite and Nara, there was a good reason for that. Sendoff Spring was also the name of Sinnoh's fourth lake, the 'secret' lake of the north that blocked the way to Turnback Cave, entrance to the hidden Shaymin shrine. With a sigh, she turned back to their small group of nervous people. Ite and Hana were huddled together, the two of them checking over her flying gear so she could cross the lake with ease, and Peregrine was double-checking the stacks of supplies they had picked up for their stakeout.

The plan had been put together almost within seconds of Hana and Peregrine being two feet from each other; she had been lucky that she had caught any of it before they had started jumping around outside. The main issue they had been facing was how to communicate with Hana while she explored the shrine, and since none of them could accompany her into the caves, there was no way to know if she could be in trouble. Ite and Nara could theoretically do it, but after some discussion, it was decided that if Yumi saw them, she might perceive them as a threat and attack. Sending Hana in by herself was the safest option, if not the most for her.

The first idea had been to put a wire on her, but a wire transmitting to a radio wouldn't work deep inside the mountain. Then Peregrine had thought of something that didn't require any technical support at all.

Peregrine was a native to Johto, and the togepi line that he hailed from had a history of being born with psychic type powers. It was usually hit or miss for their children to be born with it, but he was lucky enough that he was one of them. While he was known more for his speed, he was also handy for his Psychic ability, and would be able to communicate telepathically with Hana while she was inside the mountain because of it. All the Shaymin would have to do was think about being in trouble, and Nara and Ite could swoop in and get her out. Clara was hoping that this would be a peaceful encounter if Yumi was in the shrine after all, given the history she seemed to have with the Shaymin.

Her eyes landed on the lake, the water strangely still and looking oddly deep for how small it was. It was just large enough to keep regular people from crossing by swimming, and the beach around was too thin to provide much of a walkway without risking falling down the narrow slope all around them. The mountain top the lake was perched on certainly helped it stay secret from people who may not already know it was there.

Nara was sitting at the water's edge, huddled in a small ball within her robes and a blanket tossed over her shoulders. Instead of going to join Peregrine in checking over the radios they had just in case they took Yumi into custody, Clara decided to join the Dialga. The Dialga had gone quiet again after explaining why Ite had been so against anyone doing anything at all, and while she believed Nara's explanation, she still had a few questions she wanted to ask her.

The Typhlosion carefully sat down next to her, grunting as she tried to angle herself in such a way that her healing midsection didn't scream in agony. Nara looked up, her red eyes glowing faintly in the dark, and Clara thought she saw a small, empathetic smile.

"...She got you pretty good too, huh?" she said once Clara was finally comfortable on the sand.

Clara rested a hand just above her stomach, indicating where Yumi had punched her.  
"She nearly busted all my ribs," she admitted with a frown. "I'm lucky she didn't give me a hernia the size of my foot..."  
She glanced at Nara, her amber eyes flickering over Nara's hairline and jaw. Peregrine had told her about the beating she had received at her older sister's hands, and yet the woman looked no worse for wear in the dark.

"It looks like you healed up pretty quick though," she said.

Nara looked away, staring back at the water again and tightened the blanket around her shoulders the slightest bit.  
"I, uh… I was able to speed up my healing a little bit," she explained, gesturing with a hand towards her face. "It still hurts, and it's a bit dangerous since I pretty much compressed all the time it would have taken naturally which isn't great for a person's body, but... I didn't want to worry Hana..." She trailed off with a sheepish shrug.

"Mmm… That makes sense," Clara said, glancing over at the Shaymin in question.

She turned her attention back to Nara, not wanting to beat around the bush any longer.  
"Can I ask you a few questions?"  
Nara looked at her the way most people did when a police officer said those seven words, and Clara quickly put up a hand, waving it dismissively.

"Off the books, this is just me wanting to know something," she said, and gave her an apologetic smile. "I, uh… I don't like leaving things unanswered; it bugs me when I don't have all the puzzle pieces I want."

Nara shifted, getting more comfortable where she was. The typhlosion and her hadn't gotten along very well since the beginning of the investigation, but that had been due to how much dodging she and Ite had had to do. Clara was indeed very good at her job, and she had been making it very difficult to keep the truth from her the longer they were around each other, so Nara had done the logical thing and avoided her as much as possible. There wasn't any need to try and keep her from asking questions now.

"I'll try to answer you as best I can," she said, giving her a weak smile. "Although that depends on what you want to ask me. What is it?"

"From what you've told me about your sister, it doesn't seem like she should have had any reason to attack you at all," said Clara. "So why did she?"

Nara sighed, closing her eyes as she thought about her answer. She had been wondering if anyone was going to ask her or Ite about that.

"The Distortion Realm… Does things to people," she began. "The Yumi that's out here in the world now may be completely different from the one we used to know. It's a reverse world that messes with your mind, and makes things appear the opposite of how they really are. It can change your entire personality."

"So that's what Ite meant when he kept saying that it she might not be your sister anymore?" Clara asked. Nara nodded, glad that she was able to piece things together with what little information she had.

"People have wandered into the Distortion Realm before," she explained. "There are little breaks in our world that lead to it, and when they come back, they're completely different. Most of the time, the effects wear off after a few weeks or a month, but no one has ever been trapped there as long as Yumi has..."  
She fell silent again, thinking about what her sister had been like when she had encountered her in the temple. Her older sister had always had a bad temper. Her personality was best described as intense and passionate, but the rage that Yumi had turned on her had been terrifying. It was a part of her she had known existed, but had never thought would have been directed at her.

"Yumi would have never hurt us," Nara finally said, and looked over at her brother. He looked as if he was trying to pass the time chatting with Peregrine and fussing over Hana's scarf. "I think that's what upset Ite the most, and why he's so afraid that she may have changed for the worst. I don't know why my mother thought the Distortion Realm was where she needed to be put after what she did when it could have done so much damage to her…"

Clara watched the Dialga, carefully studying her expression before saying the the next question that was on her mind. It had been what was bothering her the most the more she learned about Yumi, the Shaymin genocide, and her siblings' view of their older sister.

"So, you really don't have any idea why Amaterasu banished her there?" she said. Nara shook her head.

"Whenever we asked, she wouldn't answer us," she said, the sad confusion clear in her voice. "Or if she did, she said it was for her own good, or that it was what needed to be done."

She glanced at Clara, and nearly jumped back a few inches from her. The Typhlosion's face had clouded over with silent anger. Nara was half expecting the water in front of them to start boiling. Clara suddenly stood up, not faltering despite the healing wounds she had exhibited earlier, and looked down at her with the same determination she had seen back at the house when they had talked about Yumi's reason for imprisonment.

"There is no such thing," she said with finality. "As locking your own child up for their own good."

With that, she briskly walked towards Peregrine. He was testing the radios, a pair of headphones being held to one of his ears as he concentrated on finding the right frequency. He heard the crunch of Clara's boots behind him, and glanced back at her, giving her a quick thumbs up.

"We're doing pretty well, considering how far out we are," he said. She bent closer to take a look at the radio's needles. "I got a hold of Nefertiti and Loki; they're ready to give us back up if we need it. They're just a little ways down the mountain. They have to leave by o-six hundred though so they can handle any press that are nosing around Solace Town for leads. That gives us about two hours."

"Okay, good."

Clara took a deep breath, and looked towards Ite and Hana. "Let's get this show on the road then."

Ite caught her eye, and she nodded at him. He nudged Hana, and she looked up from fiddling with the sash tied around her waist. She didn't need her full flight ensemble to move across the lake, but Ite had suggested she wear it all anyway given how cold the caves could be so early in the morning. Peregrine had also brought up the fact that wearing the same things the last time Yumi had seen her in might help keep the Giratina from attacking her on sight. It was a thought none of them had wanted to say outloud, but he had had a point.

Clara walked up to the Shaymin, looking her up and down. She was a good half foot taller than the young woman, and for a moment, she wondered if what they were doing was the smartest thing. Sending in a nineteen year old girl to see if an ancient, confused legendary was hiding in a shrine was most likely one of their riskier ideas. Confronting it now that it was right in front of her made her heart skip a few beats in preemptive terror.

Hana gave her a huge smile, her pink eyes sparkling with a determination she thought she recognized. It almost entirely reassured her.

"I'm good to go!" she said, giving her a double thumbs up. Clara gave her a small smile, appreciating her enthusiasm in the face of something so potentially dangerous.

"Alright," she said, and motioned for Peregrine to come over.

He left his seat, and gave Hana a smile as he bent down so that they were eye-level.

"Are you ready?" he asked her, and she gave him a vigorous nod.

"Yeah! Let's do this!"

Peregrine returned her grin; he really liked it when people shared the same amount of enthusiasm that he did.  
"Alright, so this is how it works," he said, and pointed to his forehead. "I'm going to touch my head to yours, and then use Psychic. That should create the mental link we need between us. You'll be able to tell if it worked pretty quick."

There was a little more he did on his end, like concentrating on the idea of her mind and who she was, but he didn't want to confuse her with the technical side of things. If she had questions later, which he wouldn't be surprised if she did since she seemed the type to want to know about everything, he could explain later.  
Hana nodded her head again, understanding. "Okay, got it!"

Peregrine leaned in, and gently touched his forehead to hers, closing his eyes. Hana mimicked him, quickly closing her eyes and trying to stay as still as she could. A faint, purple glow started around Peregrine's closed eyes, swirling around them like a translucent mask, and then faded after a moment. He leaned back, opening his eyes.

"You alright?" he asked Hana as she looked around, frowning a bit in confusion.  
Hana twisted her mouth in thought; this wasn't how she had imagined it would have felt like at all. There was no other strange presence in her mind, no feeling of someone else being with her.

"I don't feel any different," she said, obviously puzzled. "How do we know it worked?"

"Oh, uh…"

Peregrine closed his eyes again, a slight purple shimmer spinning around his head.  
Hana nearly shrieked she gasped so quickly, clapping her hands to her mouth, and making Ite and Nara stare at her brief concern and the togekiss jump back a little. She quickly waved her guardians off, nearly bouncing in excitement at the prospect of this new form of communication.

"I'm fine, I'm fine!" she said to them, trying not to laugh. She leaned in, focusing her attention on Peregrine, her pink eyes sparkling despite the dark. "Wait, so, how do I do it back? If I get in trouble, how can I tell you?"

He gestured with a hand around himself, looking unsure.

"Well, ah… You just kinda think at me? Like, think of it like you're trying to yell something to me across a room, or something, but you're thinking." he explained. He wished there was a better way to describe, but he thought the idea of just tilting your thoughts towards a specific person wasn't what would help her.

Hana twisted her mouth again, looking down, and gave it a shot. After a second, Peregrine flinched, putting a hand up.

"Ooh, jeez, not so loud!" he said quickly, wincing.  
Hana's hand flew up to her mouth, as if she had actually shouted at him. "Oh! Sorry, sorry!"  
He gave her a sheepish smile. "It's alright, my example probably wasn't the best," he said. "But good job! I can hear you loud and clear."

He looked up at Clara, giving her a thumbs ups. "We're good to go!"

"Good. Let's make this quick," said Clara.

She looked to Hana again, and, this time, put both of her hands on the Shaymin's shoulders. Hana looked up at her, the determination back on her face but tinged with the anxiety she had wondered would show up when it came time to leave.

"Hana, I need you to listen to me very carefully," said Clara, leaning down so she was eye-level with her. Hana nodded.

"You're a very brave and smart young lady, but the second it gets dangerous, even a little bit, you need to tell Peregrine right away. Ite will come and get you, and we'll take it from there. Do you understand?"

Hana looked down, taking a deep breath, and then looked back up to her, nodding again.

"Yes, m'am," she said. Clara gave her a brief smile.

She patted her on the shoulder, and then gestured that she was free to go, waving towards the lake.

Hana quickly went to Ite and Nara, giving them both a hug, and Clara wondered if they would ever let go. Finally, Nara released her young charge, and Hana went to the water's edge.

The green and gold light of the Gracidea flower swirled around her as she used its power to give herself flight, and then the Shaymin was off, flying across the water towards the dark entrance of the cave across the lake.

Ite had been right about the caves. Hana tugged on her scarf, pulling it up higher to cover her mouth as she watched her breath puff into the air in white clouds. It was early summer in this part of Sinnoh, but the inside of the mountain didn't reflect it. Thankfully, the shrine wasn't that far ahead, and she knew once she was inside, she would warm up.

She was following her nose, sniffing for the crisp scent of grass and fresh air, and feeling along the cave wall for bumps of moss.

There were about three different ways to try and find Sendoff Spring inside the mountain: sniff out the smell of grass, get lucky and find the correct amount of mossy bumps in the walls, or get even luckier, and know the correct amount of pillars to look for when coming to an intersection. Hana was one of three people in the world who knew about all three, and so finding the shrine wasn't a problem. However, the cold in the caves was, and she had had to watch her step for the last ten minutes, the ground slick with half-formed ice puddles.

The scent of flowers suddenly brightened up the air, and she walked faster down the tunnel, recognizing the smell. Further down was a dead end, crumbled rocks and boulders crowding the low wall. Hana kept on walking, stepping around the boulders, and went straight on through the solid looking earth.

The sudden change of light nearly blinded her, spots dancing in her vision, and she threw a hand up to shade her eyes. She had forgotten how bright it was inside of the shrine.

Sendoff Spring was a sun-filled valley bursting with colorful flowers despite being inside of a mountain. It had been created by the Shaymin as a final resting spot before heading to Flower Paradise. On the other side of the valley was another doorway, a red gate that she could see from where she stood, that lead to a snowy plateau on the other side of the mountain. She took a deep breath, the Gracidea bushes surrounding the shrine making the air heavy with a sweet, light smell, the scent that had guided her through the last stretch of tunnel.

She put her hand down, her eyes finally adjusting to the light, and as her eyes landed on the shrine placed in the middle of small valley, saw Giratina.

Her heart leaped into her throat upon realizing she was actually there, and she nearly did what she had told herself she wouldn't do: turn right around and run for her life. She took an instinctive step back, her feet disobeying her will to stay where she was, and quickly telegraphed back to Peregrine that Yumi was in the shrine. Her heart slowed as she realized that the woman hadn't even noticed her at all.

She was sitting in the shrine, leaning against one of the red pillars that held up the tiled roof, with her eyes closed and her legs dangling off the stone platform. Her gold hair waved in an invisible breeze, rippling in the sun. Hana watched her, waiting to see if anything would happen. The initial shock had worn off, and curiosity was quickly welling up where it had been. She kept thinking of what had happened in the temple; the woman's chilly fingers on her cheek, and the pain on her face.

" _I thought you were all gone…"_

She could hear Peregrine asking a dozen questions, mostly pertaining to her safety, and she quickly shushed him, telling him that she was going to get closer. His protests were a dull cacophony in her mind that she pushed away, and she walked further into the valley. She quietly crept up to the small shrine, carefully watching Yumi as she did.

The woman suddenly opened her eyes, and Hana froze where she was. They stared at each other for what felt like an eternity, Hana's heart hammering in her ears and her brain screaming in indecision. Should she run? Should she talk to her? What did you do in the face of something that had the potential to wipe you out where you stood.

She couldn't focus on anything in front of her, not wanting to stare straight at her in case it provoked her, her gaze jumping from Yumi to the shrine and everywhere in between while she tried to decide what to do. The inside of the shrine finally caught her attention. Incense was burning in the holder, and fresh candles had been placed around the altar. It looked as if the stairs and the floor had been recently swept clean. Hana looked at Yumi again, who hadn't moved or stopped staring at her the entire time.

"Did you clean the shrine?" she blurted out, completely flabbergasted.

Yumi finally moved, and turned her head to look at the altar and floor in question, straightening from leaning against the pillar. Hana took the opportunity to creep a little closer to her.

"...Yes," Yumi slowly answered, as if speaking to someone was still something she was getting used to. She looked back towards her, and despite how Hana felt she was testing her limits, she continued to get closer. Yumi's eyes never wavered from her, following every movement as she stopped two feet from her.

Hana stared back up at her, trying to wrap her head around how big the woman was. She had thought it may have been her imagination, a trick from how dark the temple had been when she had first seen her, but she really was as tall as she thought she had been. She was bigger than Ite, and he was the tallest person she knew. There was no obvious muscle to her pale form, but even then, she didn't doubt that she could lift something twice her size. Looking at her now, with her gold hair floating around in a gleaming cloud and the sun bouncing off the golden sigil that floated above her head, she could see why Nara had described her sister as beautiful. Despite her ragged appearance, there was an air of majesty around her.

Yumi finally broke the staring match, looking down at the green grass waving beneath her feet.

"I know I'm not supposed to be here," she said, a tinge of guilt in her voice. "I thought it was the least I could do."

Hana blinked, thrown off by the explanation, and then quickly shook her head, desperately trying to regain her footing.

"No, no, it's alright!" she said, waving her hands. She bit her lip. "Ah… Well, did you take your shoes off at least?"

Yumi stared blankly at her. "...I don't have shoes," she said. "They disintegrated 3,000 years ago."

Hana mentally pulled at her hair, and vaguely wondered if Peregrine could feel what was going on inside of her head. She sincerely hoped that he couldn't. She ran a hand through her green hair, glancing to the side as she felt her cheeks heat up in embarrassment from her oversight.

"Right. Um…" Hana nervously tapped her foot, and then looked up at Yumi, unsure.

"Do you mind if I come up there?" she asked.

Yumi's expression didn't change, her face still oddly blank. "It's your shrine," she said. "You can do whatever you feel like."

Hana decided not to argue with her, feeling like if she spoke anymore her feeling of intense stupidity would only increase, and started yanking off her boots. She climbed the steps of the shrine, quickly bowed towards the altar in a silent prayer, and then turned around to sit next to Yumi, dangling her legs over the edge much like she was. She started to unwind her scarf from around her neck, and then felt a hand touch her shoulder. Hana paused to look at Yumi, who was intently concentrating on the hand that she had pressed against her arm, and then looked up at her, her expression finally shifting to show a sense of wonder.

"You're real," said Yumi, sounding as if she still wasn't sure.

Hana stared at her for a moment, and then gave her a confused smile. "Well… Yeah," she said. She leaned in closer to her. "You didn't think I was real?"

Yumi shook her head.

"I thought… That maybe I was imagining you somehow," she said. She frowned, her brow knitting together and then looked at her as if she had just woken up from an intense dream. Her red eyes were clear and trained on her face.

"Who are you?"

Hana instantly gave her a smile.  
"My name's Hana," she said, and offered her her hand.

Yumi stared at the gesture for a moment, and then carefully took it, her hand twice the size of the tiny Shaymin's. Hana gave her hand a firm but gentle shake, and felt the same squeezing in her chest as she had before, only this time it was bright and warm. It made her feel as if what was happening was right, like she was doing what needed to be done the most.

Yumi seemed to want to smile back, but her face didn't move much. Hana wondered how much the Giratina was able to feel at the moment; she was strangely distanced compared to how emotional she had been back at the temple.

"I'm… Yumi," said Yumi, pausing halfway as if she had to think about who she was for a moment.

Hana nodded her head, smiling. "Uh-huh, I know!"

Yumi blinked, obviously confused at this knowledge, and Hana quickly followed up. "Ite and Nara told me your na-"

"You know my brother and sister?!"

Yumi's hair had suddenly flared out a bit, the golden stream puffing up the slightest as the Giratina leaned in close. Her eyes showed more emotion then her face did, Hana studying the mixture of guilt and pain in them, and felt a pang of empathy for her. Thousands of years of isolation were in her eyes, and the thought reached deep into her. She reached and took Yumi's hand, making the woman look sharply at her, her eyes going wide in shock. Hana smiled gently at her, trying to help her feel the kindness she wanted to give her.

"Mm-hm. They raised me," she said, looking up warmly at her.

Yumi calmed down, her hair slipping back into the floating wave that it had been, and she looked away from her, staring down at the grass again. She didn't let go of her hand.

"How?" Yumi asked, the confusion back in her eyes as she looked her up and down again. "Where did you come from?"

"I, uh… I'm not very sure myself, really," Hana confessed, gently bouncing their hands up and down. "They found me in Floraroma Valley. I was just a little baby, and an old lady found me. She didn't even know what I was until I was probably 5…"

Hana looked up at the bright sky, studying the puffy clouds as they marched on by.

"She called the police as soon as she figured it out. After that, Nara and Ite picked me up, and I've been with them ever since."

"Have they cared for you well?" Yumi asked, a hint of anxiety in her voice.

Hana brightened considerably at the question, her pink eyes sparkling with happiness.  
"Oh, I think so! I mean, they've done their best." she said. "They're not perfect, after all."  
Yumi stared at her again, something flickering in her eyes that Hana couldn't quite place. The Giratina finally looked back down at the grass. "...I see."

Hana swung her feet, the silence hanging heavily between them. She thought back to what she had seen in the temple; Yumi furious and spattered with Nara's blood, and compared it to the woman who was sitting next to her that was trying not to squeeze her hand too hard. Clara suddenly came into her thoughts, how the officer was constantly looking for the pieces to the puzzle of what had happened 5,000 years ago, and what was going on now. It was time she tried to find some answers herself.

"Yumi," she said, and the Giratina looked to her grip on her hand tightened the slightest. "What happened? Nara told me a little about you… Why did you attack her at the temple? It doesn't sound like something you would have done."

Hana let the questions hang in the air, looking at her imploringly with concern in her large, pink eyes. She hoped Yumi could see that she wasn't asking to make her feel bad, or to accuse her of anything. She only wanted to know what was going on so she could try and help.

Yumi only stared at her once more, as if testing her to see if the emotions on her face were sincere. She let go of her hand, and looked out to the valley, lacing her pale fingers together nervously. Her expressionless face had finally changed, Yumi's mouth pressed into a thin line and her forehead creased as she struggled to piece together what to say.

"I was just… So… Angry," she said, each word laced with desperation, as if she had barely escaped hanging off a cliff with her bare hands. "I was angry at everything… Myself, my mother, Nara, Ite…"

She went quiet again, fiddling with her fingers. Hana was suddenly struck by how Yumi actually looked too thin for her size. There were dark circles under her eyes, her wrists and fingers seemed too boney, and there was slight hollowness in her cheeks. A sense of gauntness haunted her that she hadn't noticed before.

"I didn't know where I was at first," Yumi continued. "And when I try to think about when I got to the temple, it's a little… Blurry. Like I was there, but I wasn't at the same time. I just remember seeing Nara, and suddenly all I could think about was how _wrong_ everything was and how angry I was at it all."

She fell silent, frowning hard at the grass, and rubbed the back of her head as if it would help her make sense of her rage impaired memories. She looked at Hana, her eyes flickering over her the same way when the girl had first settled down next to her.

"And then I saw you," she said with lingering disbelief. "I thought I had finally gone completely crazy..." She still looked a little unsure as to whether she was really there, even after touching and speaking to her for the past five minutes.

Hana listened patiently, letting Yumi work out what had happened from her point of view, and then gently touched her hand again, trying to reassure her. She cocked her head to the side to look into the woman's face better.

"Do you feel any better now?" she asked. "You're not acting like you were before."

Yumi looked up at the sky much like Hana had been doing earlier, her eyes following the clouds as they passed by.

"...I am feeling more myself," she said. "I don't quite remember how I got here, or why I decided to come, but when I came to the valley, I… It was like I could breathe again. I could… Think again."

She looked down again, closing her eyes so hard it looked as if she was angry. Hana recognized the expression; Ite made the same face when he was thinking hard about something or trying to make a difficult decision.

"...And I remembered everything that I did," Yumi said gravely, squeezing her hands into fists in her lap.

The guilt in her voice almost made Hana flinch, the emotions Yumi must have been feeling burying themselves deep inside her heart. She bit her lip, quickly sending to Peregrine everything that had happened in the small space of time, especially how Yumi remembered everything that she had done at the temple.

The plan had been that if Yumi was in the shrine and nonthreatening, was to somehow get her out of the caves and outside so Clara and Peregrine could take her into custody. Hana doubted that the Giratina would want to leave though given her current state of mind, and how the woman obviously felt remorse for what had happened. She didn't want to talk her into coming out, only to be faced with another form of punishment. She didn't want her to leave feeling as if she deserved to be put away, again, for something out of her control; it wouldn't solve anything. It wouldn't help Yumi remain who she really was.

Hana looked back to Yumi, who had resumed staring at the ground, and saw that her hands were still clenched in her lap. She took a deep breath, and reached to put a hand on top of one of her fists. The Giratina jumped the slightest and looked at her, mildly confused.

"...They're really worried about you," Hana said, and Yumi's eyes flickered, swimming with guilt again as she brought up her siblings.

"And they've missed you. Especially Nara."

Yumi shuddered, looking away from her, her chest heaving as she took a shaky breath, and squeezed her eyes shut again.

"I don't see why," she said, her voice threatening to crack. "I've done nothing but hurt them."

Hana took both of her hands, holding her clenched fists and gave them a squeeze.

"Because they love you," she said, meaning every word. "Isn't that a good enough reason?"

The emotionless wall that Yumi had built around herself began to crumble right in front of her. Yumi suddenly sucked in a sharp breath, her whole body shaking, and gritting her teeth. She suddenly turned to her, face contorted in pain, and her red eyes threatening to overflow with tears.

"Why are you being so kind to me?!" she demanded, her voice strained. "You're all alone, and it's all my fault! Why don't you hate me?! Why are you here trying to comfort me?!"

She turned away from her, jerking her hands out of Hana's hold, and gripping the ledge, bits of the stone breaking off in her grip.

"I don't deserve it! I don't deserve _them_!"

Hana silently watched the woman struggle for breath as she held back her tears, and then stood up. She was back down in an instant, on her knees, and wrapped her arms around Yumi, pressing her forehead to the top of her golden head.

"I have never been alone," she said to her, holding her as tight as she could. "I've always had my family…" Hana swallowed hard, trying to keep her voice steady.

"And they're yours too. And we all want you back."

If Yumi tried to respond, whatever she said was lost underneath her half-restrained wails, and she finally relented, turning into Hana's hug and putting her arms around her tiny waist. Hana rested her chin on top of the woman's head and rubbed her back as Yumi buried her face somewhere between her stomach and chest, and wept.

Nara nervously looked from the meditating Peregrine to the still empty entrance to the mountain. The togekiss had only moved to open his eyes and tell Clara what Hana was sending back to him, and the various emotions that were radiating off of her. So far, there had been nothing to cause them to worry, but the Dialga was doing it all on her own. She huffed where she stood, and started to pace once more.

"I really wish she would tell Officer Peregrine what was going on more," she said, twisting her fingers together nervously.

Clara looked up from the notebook that she had been writing in, watching the Dialga walk to and fro.

"If anything bad were happening, Pippin would tell us," she said, trying to reassure her. She felt as if she was speaking to a rock though; she had repeated that same fact at least ten times since Hana had left.

Clara looked up as she heard the strange static water sound of Ite returning, and saw him appear from the whirl of pink and black that appeared in the ground. He materialized with a few mugs of steaming coffee in his hands, and the portal disappeared as he stepped out. Nara quickly walked up to him, taking one of the mugs, and started to drink despite how hot it obviously was.

Ite came over to Clara and handed her a mug.

"Nefertiti and Loki are going to start packing up soon," he told her. He glanced over at Nara, who had resumed her pacing. "...I take it we haven't heard much from Hana?"

Clara shook her head, taking a sip of coffee. "The last thing we heard was that they were just sitting in the shrine and talking," she said. She looked over at Peregrine, who was sitting cross legged on the ground with his eyes closed.

"Pip's been trying to to give her space in her head, but with a psychic connection, emotions still bleed over," she explained. "From what he's been able to tell us, the worst thing that's happened is that Hana's been doing a lot of comforting on her end. I've been taking that that means it's going well."

"Mmm…"

Ite stared down into his mug, turning it around in his hands as his lips twitched into an involuntary frown. His forehead creased together, and Clara almost thought he was angry about something with how hard he looked at the ground for a moment. Out of the two legendaries, Ite was obviously the one more on edge, even with Nara's constant pacing and fretting, and Clara was suspicious she would have to watch him closely when Yumi finally arrived on the scene. Despite his coming clean about what had happened with his sisters, she had a hunch that there was something picking at him that he hadn't said yet. She was trying to stop herself from prodding him since everyone had issues with family, even legendaries, but the thought tugged on her nonetheless.

"Who knows what she's dealt with," he said quietly, surprising Clara. "All alone for 5,000 years, with only the memory of us and what happened…"

He took a sip of his coffee, though it didn't seem as if he really tasted it when he did.

"Sending Hana was probably the best thing we could have done for her."

Clara nodded her head. "She's a good kid. You and Lady Nara have done a fine job with her," she said.

"It's not just that," Ite said, looking down at her. "She has a gift for finding people when they need her the most. I don't think it was a coincidence that she found Yumi at the temple before anyone else got there."

He looked away from her and towards the cave entrance, anxiously turning the mug around in his hands. "Doesn't stop me from worrying though… Just because Hana may be what's best for her right now doesn't mean that my sister will be anymore herself or not."

Clara nodded, frowning, and then stared down into her steaming coffee cup to think. While she appreciated Ite's thoughts, her hunches were still kicking her like a misbehaving child in the backseat of a car. Something was insistently picking at her about this situation, and she didn't like it. She hated the feeling of waiting for the other shoe to drop and it felt as if this one was a steel toed boot tied to a brick.

Peregrine suddenly came alive out of the corner of her eye, making her look over as he quickly perked up from his meditating.

"They're coming back!" he said, grinning from ear to ear. He seemed rather proud of himself that this mission was looking like a success.

"Now?" Nara said, stopping her pacing and looking around, peering off towards the cave entrance.

"Yeah! They should be ba-!"

A chest-rattling reverb cut him off, the deep bass-like sound coming from behind them and close to the trees, and then a portal opened up, dark and swirling like ink being spilled into water. Hana stepped out, looking around as she did, and then beckoned for the hesitant figure behind her to follow her. It paused for a moment, and then Yumi finally stepped out of the black hole. The portal disappeared behind her.

Hana waved a hand at them all, smiling. "Hi! We're all done now!" she said cheerfully.

For a moment, no one seemed to know what to do.

Clara stared at the large woman in front of her, dumbfounded that this was the snarling phantom that had nearly broken all of her ribs. She was still as big as she remembered, but the uncontrollable rage was gone and replaced by a quiet sense of anxiety. Yumi's face didn't reflect it but she could almost taste the fear coming from the woman as she stayed behind Hana, the Giratina standing as stiffly as she could with her arms crossed tightly in front of her.

"Yumi…"

Nara's voice broke the brief silence, the Dialga going up to her sister before any of them could do or say anything. She looked up at her, her eyes shining in the dark as she tried to look into Yumi's face. Yumi glanced to the side, her shoulders shooting up the slightest as her breathing picked up, and Clara almost stepped over to pull Nara away.

Hana quickly put a light hand on Yumi's elbow, and gave her an encouraging smile. Yumi looked sharply at the girl, and then, slowly, met her sister's gaze, her breath slowing.

"Is it… Really you this time?" Nara asked, nervously wringing her hands in front of her.

Yumi hesitated, her eyes flickering around her younger sister's face before finally settling on her.

"...Yes," she said. She was quiet for a moment, looking down at her feet as she guiltily shuffled under her younger sister's anxious stare.

"...Nara, I-"

She didn't even finish her sentence before Nara had moved, quicker than anyone thought she could, and was hugging her tightly around her middle, her head pressed under Yumi's chest. Yumi froze where she was, looking straight ahead, and took a shaky breath as she pressed her lips together. Nara started to tremble, her arms tightening even more, and then finally looked up at her sister with a choked sob, tears streaming down her face.

"I-am-so-so-sorry-!" she gasped out, barely able to speak as she held her sister. "I should have done more-! Yumi, please, can you ever forgive me?!"

Yumi only stared at her, completely beside herself as Nara held onto the scraps of her kimono, the fabric threatening to rip in her grip. She sniffed, blinking rapidly as she cupped her little sister's face, and then gently took her in her arms.

"...There's nothing to forgive," she murmured, resting her chin on the top of Nara's head. Another sharp sob escaped the Dialga and she pressed her face against Yumi again. Yumi only continued to hold her as she cried.

"You were a child... It was wrong of me expect you to stand up to mother so long ago."

Nara vigorously shook her head. "But we should have done _something_! This is all our fault-!" she continued. "We should-!"

"Nara." Yumi cut her off, her voice firm as she tried to get her attention and suddenly let her go. Nara quickly looked up. Yumi's eyes had narrowed in anger, though it wasn't directed at her.

"What happened wasn't anyone's fault," she said firmly. "Mother was the one who pulled us all apart; not you or me. It was her and her alone, no one else."

Nara wiped her eyes as she listened, but still didn't let go. Yumi went still for a moment, as if absorbing what she had just said for herself, and then looked down at her sister again, her expression softening. She hugged her again, bringing her close.

"...I have missed you so much..." she murmured, resting her head on hers once more. Nara sighed in relief in the hold, trying to stifle her sniffling.

They stood together, arms around each other for a few breaths until Yumi seemed satisfied that Nara was reassured. She finally looked up past her younger sister and her immediate surroundings, and her eyes fell on Ite. He hadn't moved from where he stood, standing near the shore of the lake, and looked as if he was more willing to run then to approach his sister. His face was strangely still as he looked at her, and Yumi coolly stared back, regarding him with a more aloof nature then she had given Nara.

Yumi finally spoke after a minute of silence between them.

"Ite." she said, as if speaking to a business partner rather than her brother.

"...Yumi," he said. His hands were folded so tightly in front of him it looked like he might accidentally break his fingers.

Yumi looked him up and down from where she stood, and then inclined her head thoughtfully as she sized him up. Ite nervously cleared his throat and glanced to the side under her heavy gaze, waiting for whatever judgment he knew was coming.

"...You got rid of that ridiculous beard," she finally said.

Ite didn't react for a second, almost as if he didn't believe what she had said to him, and then shook his head.

"I, uh... Yeah..." he said, finally releasing his hands and rubbing his arm instead, still unable to really look at her. "Marinette didn't really like it, and, uh... Yeah, it did look pretty ridiculous..."

He looked up at her, and Yumi regarded him with as much expression as she had before, as if waiting for him to make up his own mind for what he wanted to do. He opened his mouth, took a breath to speak, and then quickly shut it, looking down and pacing a bit where he stood instead.

Clara and Peregrine both looked from younger brother to elder sister, waiting to see what would happen. Nara's tearful reunion seemed fairly normal, but neither of them could foresee what the result of Yumi and Ite's standoff would be. Clara couldn't tell if Yumi was pressuring Ite for something they didn't know about, or whether this was completely normal.

Finally, Ite stopped where he was, and looked towards his sister, his expression changed. His usual confidence seemed to have dwindled, his shoulders slumped with humility as he took a few steps forward with his hands folded in front of him again. Nara turned around to watch him, her hold still firmly on her older sister, and glanced up at Yumi, obviously puzzled at what was going on. Ite stood in front her, and looked at Yumi, eye level with her as she was only a few inches taller then him. He took a deep breath, but didn't seem to get near the calmness he was trying to reach for with it, his lip quivering.

"I... I'm sorry I wasn't there," he said quickly, his voice shaking. "I-I should have been, but I wasn't."

His voice cracked as his eyes darted down to Nara, her mouth dropping open at his apology. He looked down as his shoulders started to shake.

"I wasn't there when either of you needed me! I-I'm sorry-! I'm so sorry, I'm sorry for everything-!" He seemed to entirely fall apart at his own words, Ite giving up and putting his face in hands. Yumi didn't move, letting him cry, and watched him for a moment.

She took a deep breath, and put a hand on his shoulder. It didn't seem to do much as he refused to look at her.

"All I know how to do is run!" he said bitterly, his hands dropping from his face and balling into fists at his side. "So that's what I did, and I shouldn't have!"

"...You did your best," Yumi said, sounding as if she had said this to him before. Nara moved from her side, and stood next to both of them, putting a hand on her brother's back. Ite shook his head.

"No, I didn't! I'm your brother!" He looked up at both of them, a mix of stubbornness and regret on his face. "I'm supposed to protect you! Both of you! And instead I threw you under the bus!"

He threw his hands up, and gestured towards Yumi, getting frantic. Yumi looked like she was starting to worry about him, but wasn't sure what to do. Her brother had always been high strung, but this was a new kind of hysteria that she wasn't familiar with. It was if he had to get everything out all at once, or he would explode.

"I mean, Yumi, look at you! You're not supposed to be like this! You're supposed have been here, with us!" he said desperately. "Instead you got tossed into a hell hole! You got locked up and t-tossed away and we-! We b-barely did-! A-anything-!"

He was gasping towards the end, his eyes starting to overflow again, and he lost his voice under the strain. Nara rubbed his back, and looked up at Yumi, looking to her to see what they should do. Yumi gingerly put her arms around her brother, and pulled him close. Nara followed suite, hugging both of them as best she could. Ite cried in both of their arms, holding on to Yumi as if she might suddenly disappear in his hands.

Hana looked at the huddle of siblings, having not moved from Yumi's side the entire time, and very gently put a hand on Ite's arm. He jumped, startled at her touch, and looked down at her, confused. Realizing it was her, he quickly straightened, wiping at his face with his hands. Hana gave him a sympathetic smile and rubbed his forearm.

"It's okay now," she said, and all three adults stared at her in bewilderment at her calm reassurance. There was a kind of unfaltering faith in her bright smile. "Ite, you don't have to cry... Yumi's here now, and I don't think she's going anywhere."

Ite shook his head, brow knit together. "But-!"

Yumi's deep sigh cut him off, making him stare up at her, and she had to restrain herself from rubbing her forehead in exhaustion. Her poor little brother; what was she going to do with him?

"I said it before..." she said, pinning him with another stare. "It wasn't anyone's fault but mother's. There was nothing either of you could have done to change her mind. The only thing that would have happened was that both of you could have gotten banished with me, and what good would have that done?"

She sighed again, and passed a hand through her golden hair, obviously not happy that she had to repeat the facts. The group fell silent at her words, Ite and Nara glancing down as they both knew it was true. Another quiet moment passed between them all, and then Yumi looked up at them, her red eyes flickering from one to the other. Without any warning, she quickly enveloped them in another hug, pulling them as close and as tight to her as she could. Her whole body melted into the action as she fully relaxed with her siblings in her arms.

"I missed you… So, _so_ much…"

Yumi's quiet voice was heard by everyone in the area, the murmur that reverberated in the small space thick with gratitude and relief. For the first time since she had emerged from the portal, the anxiety had been let go, and she seemed to be able to breathe again.

Clara silently watched the exchange, the determination to keep the small family together burning stronger in her then it had before. She would do everything in her power to make sure Yumi would be returned to where she belonged, to a life with her siblings and Hana, after the police were finished with her. Anyone who tried to stand in her way was going to get one hell of a surprise.

Peregrine nudged her arm, and jerked his head towards Yumi; it was time for them to do their jobs. Taking a deep breath, Clara approached the group as Yumi finally let go of Nara and Ite, and walked up to the Giratina.

"Lady Yumi?" she said, trying to gently get her attention.

Yumi looked down at her, mildly confused and surprised at her appearance.

"...You were at the ruins," she said, recognizing her and obviously shocked to see her again.

Clara gave her a wry smile. "Ah, yes, I was…"

She offered a hand to the tall woman, the action official and snappy. "Officer Clara Strongfeld, International Police," she said, introducing herself. She nodded to Peregrine, who stood beside her. "This is my partner, Peregrine Brooks."

Peregrine lifted a hand in greeting, flashing a quick smile. "Hello!"

Yumi stared at the offered hand for a second, and then carefully took it, bewildered at the strangers, especially since she was fairly certain she had tried to kill the typhlosion whom she was now shaking hands with.

"...Can I help you…?" she said, feeling as if that's what she was supposed to say to them. There had been no such thing as 'police' when she had been banished, but they reminded her of the locals that used to take it upon themselves to protect the communities.

"A little bit," said Clara, letting go of her hand. She glanced to Ite and Nara, watching them for their reactions. They had known that this would have to happen, but that didn't mean they would be happy about it or cooperate.

"I hate to ask this of you, but you're going to need to come with us. We need to ask you a few questions, and make sure that you're alright," she explained.

Yumi's face clouded over with suspicion and the slightest beginnings of outrage, and she opened her mouth to say something. Nara jumped forward instead.

"But-! Wait, does she really have to?" she said, trying to angle herself between Clara and Yumi. "She's fine! I mean, you've been here the whole time! Can't she just come home with us? ...Please?"

Peregrine spoke up before Clara could. "As much as we would like that, we need to make sure Lady Yumi is safe," he said and quickly turned his attention to Yumi to explain further. He didn't want her to think that they believed she was dangerous.

"Lady Yumi, it's been a very long time since you've been in Sinnoh, and a lot of stuff has changed. We know you want to be with your family, but we also want you to be comfortable and feel safe with all the changes." he said, hoping that she could see that he was being sincere. "It's why we're here; it's our job to make sure people like you, legendaries that have been out of the world for centuries, can adjust and live their lives like anyone else."

Yumi's expression had shifted from being completely suspicious to apprehensive, and even with the explanation, she didn't look as if she entirely trusted the situation. Nara had resumed hanging on to her as well, and she didn't want to pull away from her so quickly. Clara glanced at Peregrine, trying to see if he had anything else to add, and he shrugged, his hands open helplessly. He had been hoping that his explanation would help Yumi make up her mind, or at least reassure her, but it didn't seem to have affected her much. Clara quietly sighed and looked back up at Yumi again.

"We're not going to ask you to come with us immediately," Clara said. "And we won't force you either. But you will have to speak with us, or the local officers, eventually. We can't leave you without any resources."

Hana caught her eye, the Shaymin having been quietly listening behind her new trio of guardians, and had peeked out to watch Clara as she spoke. She darted forward, raising her hand.

"I can go with her!" she piped up. She turned to Yumi. "I can come with you if that makes you feel better. Officer Clara and Peregrine are really nice, promise! They were the ones that helped us find you!"

"Then I'm coming too!" Nara said quickly before Yumi could get a word in edgewise. The Dialga grabbed Hana's wrist, wanting something to hang on to in case she decided to take off like she sometimes did when she had an idea. "There's no way I'm letting you go by yourself some place where you could get in trouble again. I've had enough of that for one day!"

Peregrine raised a hand, trying to signal that he had something to say about that, but Ite interrupted him, making them all stare.

"Can't we all just come with her?" he asked, glancing at Yumi. "If she's not comfortable, then we could just go with her so we wouldn't have to be separated."

Clara put her hands up, protesting the sudden entourage. Her phone started vibrating in her pocket the second she started to speak, and she continued, ignoring it. Whoever it was could call Peregrine.

"Now, hey, wait a minute-! There's no way all of you can come! You won't fit in the car!"

The sudden grumble of nearby thunder and Peregrine's phone starting to go off wasn't helping her be heard. The Togekiss quickly answered his phone, turning and walking away about a foot while pressing one hand to an ear to hear whoever was on the other end.

"We need to fit Yumi, ourselves, and all the equipment in the car. _One_ of you can come, maybe two if it's Nara and Hana," Clara said, half listening to Peregrine trying to understand whoever was calling and trying to talk over the rumble of thunder at the same time.

She looked up at a dismayed Ite, shrugging sympathetically. "Sorry, there's only so many tall people we can fit in it. You could meet us at the station if you want-!"

She jumped as a peal of thunder cracked directly overhead, and was quickly followed by a blinding flash of lightning. The lightning struck the ground where they all stood, sending the group flying.

Clara sat up, her vision blurry and full of dancing stars, ears ringing and quickly started trying to get up despite herself. Her midsection screamed with every movement. She blinked furiously, trying to see and count who was there.

"Is everyone alright?" she called out, her vision slowly adjusting.

Peregrine groaned next to her, and she heard Ite and Nara shout that they were fine. She squinted through her blurry vision, and sighed in relief as she made out the image of Ite on the ground, clinging desperately to Hana in his arms. Nara was next to him.

"Yumi…"

Clara scrambled to her feet, looking around.

"Where's Yumi?!"

There was a smoking crater where she had last been standing, or at least where Clara was sure where she had been standing before the lightning strike. A quick survey of the area proved that she wasn't anywhere nearby, and she hadn't heard her respond when she had called out to everyone. Had the legendary taken off somehow?

Her phone started vibrating in her pocket again. She had to restrain herself from grabbing it, and chucking it into the lake. Peregrine groaned again, sitting up with his phone still in his outstretched hand, and gestured to the buzzing sound.

"Ughhh, that's Nefertiti," he grumbled, picking himself up. "There are weird clouds covering Mt. Coronet… She was trying to warn us that a bunch were here too; must of been where the lightning came from…"

Nara gasped, and quickly started to shake Ite, her face contorted in fear. He looked about as alarmed as she did, unsure whether he wanted to let Hana go just yet given the circumstances.

"No!" Nara said. "No, she wouldn't-! Would she-?!"

"I-I don't know-!" he said, letting Hana down. "Hana, I need you to stay here, okay?"

Hana started to protest, but Nara cut her off.

"Ite! We have to go! We have to go _now_!" Nara said, tugging on her brother. "We have to stop her!"

"Go where?!" Clara demanded. "Stop who?! What's going on?!"

Ite stretched out his hand, and opened a portal in the ground, the strange static sound of his particular method of travel filling the air.

"Mom's gonna put her back!" Nara said, obviously on the verge of panic at her questions. "We don't have time, we have to go now!"

"Who's Mom?!" Peregrine said, getting to his feet. He could barely able to keep up with what was going.

"Arceus!" Ite turned to face the group, terror deep in his eyes.

"If we don't hurry, Arceus will seal Yumi back in the Distortion Realm. That's what that lightning was! She took Yumi to Spear Pillar to put her back in!"

"The hell she is!" Clara's snarl silenced the whole group. She was moving in seconds, stomping towards the portal and past Ite.

"I'm coming with you!"

"Hey, hey, not without me!" Peregrine scrambled to follow his partner, acutely aware of how Clara's eyes were practically smoldering. He knew that look of pure determination anywhere. "You'll get yourself blown to pieces knowing you- Ack-!"

Hana nearly bowled him over, darting past Nara. "Me too, me too!"

"You can't _all_ come!" Ite protested, his portal wavering with his emotions. The pink and black hole flickered in the ground. "Hana, it's too dangerous! You need to stay here!"  
"I am not!" the Shaymin said fiercely, whirling around to face him. She looked straight up into his face, her pink eyes burning with the same fire that Clara's had. "I told her that we were all going to be together! I am not breaking that promise!"

"She's in our custody!" Clara said with finality, standing with Hana. "We can't give her up, not now!"

Ite looked like he was about to close the portal until they got everything sorted out, his mouth pressed into a hard line as he stared at both women.

"Oh for goodness' sake-!"

Nara's voice cut through the confusion. She was already at the portal, waiting for all of them to make up their minds.

"Just let them come! We can send them back later if it gets bad! We need to get going! We've already given her too much time!" she said.

Ite groaned, and quickly started to wave them at them all to start moving. "Fine, fine! Go, quickly!" Nara jumped into the portal, followed by Clara and Peregrine. Hana was about to dive in after them, when Ite caught her arm, holding her back for a moment.

"The second it gets dangerous," he said. "We have to send you back."

Hana hesitated, her eyes flickering from him to the portal, and then, swallowing hard, nodded her head in resignation. She wouldn't argue with him about this.

Ite let her go, and she jumped into the portal. He quickly followed after her, bracing himself for the strange shift in gravity as the space they were currently in was overlapped with where they needed to be, and they were all dropped in Spear Pillar.

Spear Pillar was high up on Mt. Coronet, past the temple, and was the shattered remains of the first temple in Sinnoh. The top of the mountain had been carved into a place of worship, and then destroyed by a cataclysmic thunderstorm, much like the one that encircled them now. The sky was dark with thunderclouds; a thick, black wall laced with lightning that seemed to keep staying just far enough not to strike the mountain top. The broken pillars were scattered all across what had once been a marble floor, turned into rubble and stained walkways that hadn't been set foot on for centuries.

Clara reeled where she stood, still trying to gain her balance back after Ite had folded the space where they had stood to be on top of Spear Pillar. She snapped back to herself when her eyes landed on what was happening in the middle of the forgotten temple.

She was gigantic, at least ten feet tall or more, and white. The kind of unearthly white that belonged to stars and the sun when you looked straight at it, and even as Clara stared at her, she was having a hard time doing so. There was something unsettling about her as well, the whiteness felt unnatural, like it was erasing all signs of life from the god's body, and made her shudder where she stood. Yumi had struck terror straight into her when she had first encountered her, but it was nothing compared to the soul-shaking fear in her now that reminded her too much of looking down into a drained well and feeling the gravity start to suck you in.

Arceus.

She was fighting Yumi, though not physically. Yumi was screaming in the air, being held up against her will against a bright circle of runes that hissed when they touched her skin, and a black hole yawning behind it all, desperate to swallow her up despite her struggles. Arceus was trying to push her in, face emotionless besides a faint contortion of frustration around her mouth.

"Yumi!"

Nara moved towards the spectacle like a sleepwalker, horrified by what she was seeing. It was like someone had taken what had haunted her sleep for 5,000 years and dragged it back into reality. She gained more traction as she looked up at it, her feet slowly building into a run.

"No, no! Mom! Stop, no, please-!"

Ite suddenly caught her arm, stopping her from running headlong between the god and Yumi. She whirled to face him.

"We have to stop her!" she said, grabbing a hold of him. "Ite, come on-!"

She started to try to run again, but Ite's grip on her only tightened. She looked back at him, his red eyes pinpricks of terror in his near-white face, and he barely looked at her, only silently shaking his head as his chest heaved in panic.

"I… Can't!" he barely said to her, the fear making his voice weak. "You're the only family I have left! I can't-!"

Nara's eyes widened as she realized what he was doing. The sky behind him brightened for a brief second with another crash of lightning.

"No!" she yelled, pulling and tugging at his arm. He only held onto her more, dragging her into his hold as he wrapped his arms around her, pinning her. Nara screamed, the volume of it challenging the thunder, kicking her legs and struggling as if he was killing her instead of restraining her.

"NO! COWARD! YOU DAMN COWARD, LET ME GO! LET ME GO, SHE'S MY SISTER, LET ME GO-!"

Peregrine and Hana rushed to them, trying to pull them apart.

"Ite-! Stop, what are you doing?!" Hana pulled at the Palkia's arms with all her might. Peregrine did the same from the other side, but Ite's hold was like iron on his shrieking sister. "What are you-!"

"Clara! Where's Clara?!" Peregrine suddenly looked around, trying to locate his partner. They needed her, she had been right next to them only a moment ago, but where was she now?

He froze as he saw her marching right up to Arceus and Yumi. Nara noticed her at the exact same time, going still as she watched the Typhlosion doing what she couldn't being trapped in her brother's hold. Everyone stopped what they were doing as they watched.

"What is she doing?" Nara said, dumbfounded.

"I-I don't know. I don't know what she's doing." Peregrine said, terrified. He leaned forward, as if to help Clara hear his stage whisper to her better. "Clara, what are you doing?! Clara-!"

Clara continued to stride right up to the god, stopping three feet from where she stood.

"Hey!" she shouted up to her.

Arceus didn't even look at her.

"HEY! ARCEUS!"

"Amaterasu!"

Clara looked back at Hana's shout. Hana was hanging off of Ite, still trying to tug Nara from his hold. "Her name's Amaterasu!" the Shaymin shouted to her again.

Clara squared her shoulders, and looked back up, glaring at the giant woman.

"AMATERASU!"

The god finally moved, blinking, and looked around to locate the shout. She looked down, her eyes widening as she saw Clara at her feet.

Clara held up her badge. "Clara Strongfeld, International Police! Put the Giratina down! NOW!"

Amaterasu only blinked again, and the brief moment of disbelief was quickly replaced by consternation.  
"Excuse you?" Her voice was intimidating, the tone making it clear that she didn't like being questioned, if at all. Clara didn't budge.

"Yumi is in our custody!" she declared, pointing at the Giratina, who had also stopped where she was. It seemed that while she had Amaterasu distracted, she was no longer being pushed into the blackhole. The only thing hadn't stopped moving was the constant lightning in the sky.

"You can't seal her back into the Distortion Realm!"

The god's brows furrowed, looking an awful lot like Yumi did when she was frustrated, and she leaned down the slightest towards Clara to get a better look at her. Clara had to restrain herself from taking a few steps back as the face drew closer then before, and she saw just how eerily similar Amaterasu's face was to Yumi's. The resemblance was uncanny.

"Do you have any idea who you're talking to?" Amaterasu demanded. "Listen here, typhlosion, you have no idea what you're asking of me-"

"Mom!"

Nara ran up to where Clara was, having finally broken away from Ite, who had dropped his arms the second Amaterasu had started to speak to Clara. He was frozen where he stood, looking as if he didn't want to believe what was happening in front of him was actually happening.

Nara stood her ground next to Clara, looking up at her mother. Amaterasu looked down at her daughter in surprise.

"Nara? What are you doing here?" she said, her tone changing entirely.

"Mom, please, you have to stop!" Nara begged. "You can't put her back, not now! She didn't even do anything!"

Amaterasu's expression softened. The stone mask her face had been was slowly melting as a deep sadness pervaded her eyes while hearing Nara's request.

"Nara, I can't-"

"She's right!"

Amaterasu looked up again as she was interrupted for the second time, watching Ite and Hana charge up with Peregrine quickly following behind. Ite stood next to Nara, and glanced down at her, guilty but seemed to have new determination to do the right thing.

"Nara's right," he said, his voice only shaking a little bit. His legs were shaking so bad he was having a hard time standing. "You can't put her back! You created the three of us to work together; how are we going to do that if you keep us separated? We need Yumi here!"

He restrained a yelp as a clap of thunder echoed over his head.

"We need her!" Hana said, clearly heard over the cacophony in the heavens. Her voice shot through everything in the area. "There's no point to her being locked up! She hasn't done anything to deserve this! The only thing it does it hurt everyone here!"

Amaterasu's eyes had only widened as Ite and Hana talked to her on top of Nara and Clara, and she seemed to be having a hard time even comprehending so many people standing up to her at once. She drew herself up again, standing over them despite the protests at her feet.

"You don't know what you're asking me," she said, avoiding Nara and Hana's pained expressions. "Yumi needs to be sent back."

"YOU CAN'T!" Clara's voice boomed across Spear Pillar, rivaling the thunderclouds, the typhlosion marching even closer to the god. Her amber eyes blazed in her face as she looked up at her.

"She's committed no crime!" she continued, pointing a finger at Yumi. "She's done nothing wrong! And even what she has done, is under our jurisdiction! Yumi is under the International Police's protection; you absolutely _can not_ lock her away in another realm when she is in _our_ custody!"

Amaterasu stared down at Clara, her eyes practically boring a hole into the ground the typhlosion stood on, and obviously not happy that the woman continued to talk to her the way she did. She took a deep breath, narrowing her eyes in a way that was reminiscent of a mother scolding a child that continued to beg and plead for something that wasn't within their reach.

"Be quiet, all of you."

Yumi's voice made Amaterasu pause in what she was doing, and she turned to look at her captive daughter. Yumi was glaring at her from where she hung, her red eyes burning in her pale face. She didn't break her stare as she continued.

"Don't you get? She doesn't care," she hissed, barely containing her contempt. "She just wants to be right."

Hana nervously looked from one of her guardians to the other, Yumi's statement making the determination in her falter. She could feel the morale in their group flicker, and as she looked up at the Giratina in the air, began to wonder if what they were doing was useless after all. Amaterasu was indomitable, and from what they had seen since their arrival, immovable. Even her own children's pleas seemed to do nothing.

Amaterasu stared back at her eldest daughter, her green and red eyes watching her seethe where she was. Something barely visible stirred in her eyes.

"...Is that what you think?" she asked quietly. The sadness that had been there before had creeped back into her voice as she watched Yumi fume before her.

"YES!" Yumi snarled, struggling against the unseen forces binding her where she was. She threw herself against them as if they were the only things stopping her from throwing herself at her mother and tearing her to pieces, teeth bared and eyes wide with hate.

"You locked me away in hell for 5,000 years, and for what?! An accident! Something I had no control over, and you punished me for it for all eternity!"

"You destroyed an entire race of people!" Amaterasu said, her voice beginning to sound strained. It was the most human she had sounded since they had arrived. "What was I-!"

"MY FRIENDS!" Yumi screamed at her.

The scream made Amaterasu jump. Yumi's eyes threatened to burn holes into her as she raged in anger and grief.

"My friends! The only people I loved more dearly than my family, gone! Gone forever! Because of ME!" she cried, desperate and wild. The hate snapped back into her as she looked at her mother. Purple black smoke began to seep from her mouth, the beginnings of dragon breath in her throat she was so angry.  
"And then you threw me away like _garbage!_ " she snarled, the words nearly catching on her teeth. Amaterasu's mask had fallen completely at Yumi's words, her eyes huge and full of the same grief that her daughter was throwing at her, although it seemed to be for something completely different. Clara watched her as best as she could; it was difficult when the god's face was so high up.

"...You are not garbage," she said, barely loud enough for anyone to hear. Her eyes looked far away with deep, endless sadness, even though she knew her daughter hated her with every fiber of her being.

Yumi didn't say anything, only continuing to stare her mother down as if she hoped to burn her to the ground where she stood. The thunder that had been rumbling so loudly seemed to have calmed for the moment as mother and child stared at one another. Clara quickly jumped on the opportunity, not given up on doing what she intended.

"Amaterasu!"

The god looked down at her, the brief expression gone, and replaced by the constant furrowed brow she had whenever Clara spoke to her.

"No matter what you say, Yumi is still under the protection of the International Police." said Clara, burning with determination to not be denied this time. "We depend on the trust we give to legendaries that they will not abuse the power they have in relation to the citizens of this world, and even you are answerable to that! If you seal Yumi away, knowing that you are breaking the faith that we put in the legends of this earth to listen and work with us, you are violating that trust."

She pointed up at her, emphasizing her point. Amaterasu narrowed her eyes at the judging finger. The thunder began to return.

"You, Arceus, the creator of this world and everything in it, cannot break that trust. If you do, then you are endangering everything that we are working towards, everything that we do to try and protect your children." Clara finished, not breaking eye contact with the god. Her amber eyes shined with an unbreakable will for what she knew was right, and she was daring Amaterasu to tell her otherwise.

The god silently stared down at the typhlosion, who was miniscule compared to her height and power, for what felt like hours as everyone held their breath. Clara did not look away.

Amaterasu heaved a great sigh, the entire earth breathing with her as she did, and looked away from the intense look, passing a hand briefly over her forehead in resignation. She looked back to Clara, obviously displeased.

"You are, without a doubt, the most stubborn and direct creature I have ever met," said Amaterasu. She closed her eyes, pressing her lips together like Clara had seen Ite and Nara do occasionally, and then turned her gaze to Hana.

"Hana. Come here," she said.

The Shaymin jumped, not thinking she would ever be addressed at all, and quickly looked to Ite and Nara. She hadn't even thought that Amaterasu had bothered to notice her. Both of her guardians looked at her with a mix of shock and terror, and, glancing quickly up at their mother to try and guess her intentions, feebly nodded in agreement for her to go. It felt useless to deny her.

Hana bit her lip, hesitating, and very slowly crept forward. Amaterasu regarded her imperially, the emotionless mask beginning to cover her face again. She gestured towards Yumi.

"You are the last Shaymin," she said. "You are alone in this world because of her. If anyone is to choose whether Yumi is to stay in this world, or not, it is you. What is your choice?"

Hana stared up at the stoney face, and then looked down, trying to think. What Amaterasu had given her was the undeniable truth, and one she had been trying not to think too much about. The destruction of her people was an accident, but until something else was done, she really was all alone. Ite and Nara were her guardians, but they weren't Shaymin. She knew they loved her, that she loved them, and they all clung to each other as family as best as they could. But the cold, hard truth was that she was it until something else was done, and the way Amaterasu flung it at her feet struck her to her core.

She looked up at Yumi.

The hate was gone now as she waited to see what Hana would do. She saw the same self-loathing and guilt that she had seen in Sendoff Springs when they had spoken, and another thought entered into her at the sight of Yumi hanging in the air, the darkness waiting to swallow her up behind her.

Hana remembered what she had said when Yumi had cried the same truth, and she could feel the single fact of her loneliness threatening to overtake the love that she clung. She pushed the fear and the thoughts that circled her in the late hours of night aside, and thought of her mismatched family, the people who loved her.

She looked back up at Amaterasu, who was still waiting for her answer. The thunder impatiently rumbled above them.

"I have never been alone. I have always been part of a family," she declared. She looked back up to Yumi, continuing. "I want her to stay."  
Hana glanced back at the group, and saw Ite and Nara clinging to each other. Nara already had tears streaming down her face.

"Yumi is part of this family. We can never be complete if she stays away. I may be alone in being a Shaymin, but that doesn't mean she should be alone too," she said. She stared up at the god, giving her her final answer.

Amaterasu closed her eyes, and nodded her head. She had no intention of arguing with her.

"So be it."

She waved a hand, and the hole behind Yumi suddenly disappeared. The circle of runes were blown out with it, and the Giratina was gently placed on the ground. Amaterasu was entirely prepared for her daughter to come charging at her with everything she had, but instead, she only stayed where she was, speechlessly watching Hana.

"YUMI!"

Nara's cry echoed across Spear Pillar, and Yumi barely had any time to react as Nara threw herself at her. She threw her arms around her sister, wrapping her up in a desperate hug as she sobbed tears of relief, and was quickly joined by Ite skidding into the both of them. He hugged them both, picking them up and squeezing his sisters close to him. Not waiting to be invited, Hana sprinted over and wriggled her way into the pile, hugging Yumi with all her might, and laughing the entire time. Her family was now complete.

Amaterasu watched the reunion for a moment, her face strangely still for how happy it was, and then turned to Clara.

"You have what you wanted," she said. "Your trust is still intact, but now you are obligated to hold up your side of it." She leaned down close to Clara, her red and green eyes narrowed.

"You are now responsible for her, as you wished, and so you must do what you said is your duty: protect my children," she said. She glanced back at the joyous pile. "Even if it be from themselves."

Amaterasu straightened up, standing tall before them all. "Do not fail in this."

Thunder suddenly rumbled in a great crescendo so close and loud that Clara felt her teeth rattle in her skull, and then the lightning that had been arcing around Spear Pillar finally found a destination. It struck all at once in a blinding flash, and just as quickly as it had struck, it was gone and Amaterasu had vanished. The storm had as well, leaving the sky clear and full of fading, early morning stars. The sun was beginning to rise far off in the distance, pinpricks of light starting to peek over the horizon.

Clara stood, frozen, still staring at the spot Amaterasu had been only a second ago, and then her legs finally gave out underneath her. For a moment, she wasn't even sure if she was still breathing. The pain of her still healing rib cage crashed down on top of her, and she thought she was going to pass out right there. The whole world had stopped, her ears ringing, and her vision threatening to go dark. She was joined by Peregrine in an instant, the Togekiss shaking her as he practically shouted in her face. She was barely able to put up a fight, or say anything to try and get him to stop in his excitement. She briefly thought that if she threw up on him, it would be his own fault.

"You did it! Clara, oh my gosh, you did it! She gets to stay! Look, look-!" he said as he finally stopped shaking her and directed her towards the excited and still hugging pile of siblings and Hana.

Clara stared at the dogpile for a second, slowly coming back to her senses, and faintly smiled. The scene almost made the ebbing pain worth it.

"Y-yeah… Look at that..." she said, her smile growing bigger at the sight. She looked up at Peregrine, grinning as her energy bounced back. "That's it! We're done! We're good, we did our jobs! They get to stay together!"

She grabbed him and shook him like he had been doing to her before, laughing wildly. "WE DID IT!"

"Yeah, yeah!" Peregrine cheered, throwing his hands up in the air. His face dropped as suddenly as his excitement had arrived though, the color draining from it as he held the sides of his head.

"Ohhhhh my sweet Ho-Oh, we could have died though! We could have died so many times! Soooo many…"  
He stared at the ground for a moment, as if contemplating his mortality for all of three seconds. Then he looked up, and started swatting at Clara's arm. Clara squawked, flinching at his half-hearted hits.

"Wha-! Hey-!"

"Crazy lady, what is wrong with you?!" said Peregrine, smacking her shoulder. "Seriously, warn me next time! I thought you were gonna get blown to pieces right in front of me!"

Clara put up her hands, trying to stop her partner from chastising her.

"Okay, okay! I'll remember that next time we run into a world-creating deity!" she laughed. She quickly ran out of breath, and leaned back on her hands, trying to recover from her aching midsection. Her ears were still faintly ringing.

She sighed, and then carefully eased herself back, lying down on the cold marble. Peregrine watched her, bewildered.

"Uh… Shouldn't we get over there and make sure they're alright?" he said to her.

Clara waved a hand at him. "Oh, they're fine. I mean, look at them."

She turned her head so that Ite, Nara, Yumi, and Hana were all within her line of sight. They had all finally untangled, and Hana was energetically chattering to Yumi. From what she could hear, she was telling her all about the house they had near Snowpoint, and how they had a guest room she could use. She could stay with them for as long as she wanted. Nara was trying to quietly read Ite the riot act for holding her back like he had, but seemed to only be doing it out of necessity and was glad that he had found his courage at the last second when it had counted.

Clara smiled, and then looked back up at Peregrine.

"Besides, I _really_ need to lie down. I don't even think I can walk right now," she said with a tired chuckle.

"Ah, okay…" Peregrine said, understanding finally dawning on him. He had completely forgotten that she was still healing; it was hard for him to remember when she put up a good front a majority of the time.

He watched the group for a moment, and then flopped back next to her. He glanced over at his partner.

"Don't worry, I'll get up in, like, five minutes, and see what they want to do. I think Ite's getting us all back." he said.

Clara barely responded to him. "Hmmm… Okay…"

She slowly took a deep breath, her chest aching dully as she watched the sky begin to turn the brilliant colors of daybreak. The sun slowly rose over the horizon to bring with it the new day. From the looks of things, Clara thought it was going to be a good one.


End file.
